Lina Khaled Almaeena is the co-founder of Jeddah United Sports Co. (JUSC), the first private sports company in Saudi Arabia to train girls and boys in team sports, including basketball, volleyball and soccer, to promote the culture of sport in the Kingdom.
It is also is a sports events management company.
Almaeena was also captain of the Jeddah United women’s basketball team until 2012, and has appeared as a speaker at many local and international conferences about women and sport.
She studied communications at George Mason University in Virginia, graduating in 2000, and earned a Master of Arts degree in psychology from the American University in London in 2005.
She was a speaker at the French Senate in 2004 and 2010 as part of delegations led by Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, and received the entrepreneurship award at the Women in Leadership Forum in 2010.
Almaeena has also been a columnist for Al-Madinah newspaper, and she climbed to Everest Base Camp in 2012 as part of a breast cancer awareness campaign organized by the Zahra Breast Cancer Association.
She was ranked 71st on the Forbes Saudi Arabian list of the 200 most powerful Arab women in the Middle East in 2014, became a member of Sirb Angel Investors Network in 2014, won the Piaget entrepreneurship award in 2015, and is a member of the Young Business Committee and the Sports Investment Committee in the Chamber of Commerce.
She has been a member of the Shoura Council since 2016.
TheFace: Lina Khaled Almaeena, co-founder of Jeddah United Sports Co.
TheFace: Lina Khaled Almaeena, co-founder of Jeddah United Sports Co.
- Lina Khaled Almaeena has been a member of the Shoura Council since 2016
Saudi Arabia expresses concern over UAE pressure on STC, warns against threats to its security
Riyadh: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday expressed regret over what it described as pressure by the United Arab Emirates on Southern Transitional Council (STC) forces to carry out military operations in Yemen’s Hadramaut and Al-Mahra governorates, warning that such actions pose a direct threat to the Kingdom’s national security and regional stability.
In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the reported moves were inconsistent with the principles of the Arab Coalition that supports the internationally recognised government of Yemen and undermined ongoing efforts to achieve security and stability in the country.
#Statement | Pursuant to the statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 25/12/2025 corresponding to 5/7/1447 regarding the Kingdom’s concerted efforts, working with the brotherly United Arab Emirates, to end and contain the escalatory steps taken by the Southern… pic.twitter.com/lTyU0gLgpf
— Foreign Ministry (@KSAmofaEN) December 30, 2025
The ministry referred to earlier statements by the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and the coalition leadership concerning the movement of ships carrying weapons and heavy vehicles from Fujairah port to Mukalla without official authorization.
Saudi Arabia stressed that any threat to its national security constituted a “red line,” adding that it would not hesitate to take all necessary measures to confront and neutralize such risks.
The Kingdom reaffirmed its support for Yemen’s security, stability, and sovereignty, as well as its full backing of the Yemeni Presidential Leadership Council and its government. It also reiterated that the southern issue is a just cause that can only be addressed through dialogue as part of a comprehensive political solution involving all Yemeni parties, including the STC.
Riyadh further emphasized the importance of the UAE responding to Yemen’s request to withdraw its military forces within 24 hours and to halt military or financial support to any Yemeni faction. The statement called for wisdom to prevail in order to preserve Gulf unity, bilateral relations, and the shared goal of regional stability and development.
