RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Horse Festival 2022 has kicked off in Riyadh after a curtain raiser at the International Equestrian Resort.
With the support of its strategic partner the Diriyah Gate Development Authority, people from across the region flocked to the opening for the premiere event for purebred Arabian horses.
This is the second edition of the festival, being held under the slogan of “Ubayyah in Diriyah.”
The opening included the holding of the Diriyah Pride Auction, offering an opportunity to acquire a selection of horses whose breeds belong to rare horses, with a display of 40 head of mares and forts.
The horse Bromma Bahmas was sold at auction for SR180,000 ($48,000), a portion of the sum will go to charity. Side events such as a living museum of purebred Arabian horses were organized to reflect the Kingdom’s great equestrian heritage.
The festival will also include art competitions, live music, shops and restaurants, and many other events including the Ubayyah Experience, similar to the dining, wellness and hospitality concept of Sadu Escape in AlUla.
The most prominent event will be the International Championship for Purebred Arabian Horses.
Saudi Arabian Horse Festival gallops into Riyadh
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Saudi Arabian Horse Festival gallops into Riyadh
- The horse Bromma Bahmas was sold at auction for SR180,000 ($48,000), a portion of the sum will go to charity
Saudi Arabia’s KAUST named FIFA’s first research institute in MENA
- KAUST President Prof. Sir Edward Byrne said that the university’s selection as the fifth FIFA Research Institute in the world — and the first in the region — marks a significant achievement, reflecting Kingdom’s growing presence in international football
RIYADH: FIFA has designated the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology as its first research institute in the Middle East and Asia to support the development of innovative football research, the Saudi Press Agency reported on Tuesday.
The recognition highlights KAUST’s commitment to integrating sports, academic research and industry through advanced, high-level initiatives grounded in rigorous scientific methodologies, contributing to the advancement of football studies.
KAUST President Prof. Sir Edward Byrne said that the university’s selection as the fifth FIFA Research Institute in the world — and the first in the region — marks a significant achievement, reflecting Saudi Arabia’s growing presence in international football.
The accreditation aligns with national efforts to invest in research and development and promote the knowledge economy, supporting Saudi Vision 2030’s goals of building an advanced sports system based on innovation and sustainability.
The collaboration’s first project focuses on developing advanced AI algorithms to analyze historical FIFA World Cup broadcast footage, transforming decades of match videos into structured, searchable data, according to the KAUST website.
This work opens new opportunities to apply state-of-the-art computer vision techniques and deepen understanding of how football has evolved over time.
The second project uses player and ball tracking data from the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar and the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand to compile comprehensive datasets capturing in-game dynamics.
These datasets provide deeper insights into human movement, playing techniques and performance dynamics through AI-driven analysis.
