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Exclusive: Saudi Arabia readies Olympic Games bid but may hold until 2040

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Deputy Sports Editor - City PM

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Saudi Arabia is readying a bid to host the Olympic Games but is prepared to wait until 2040 to maximise its chances, a leading official has told City PM. “I think from a capability point of view, all of us – not just me – feel we would have the capability to stage the ‘36 Games. But if it was a ‘36 Games or a ‘40 Games, certainly anything beyond ‘40, we could do it easily. “If you come off the World Expo in ‘30, the Asian Winter Games in ‘29 and the World Cup in ‘34, the kingdom could keep those organising teams together to roll it into a ‘36 Olympics or a ‘40 Olympics. It makes a lot of sense.”
Saudi Arabia is readying a bid to host the Olympic Games but is prepared to wait until 2040 to maximise its chances, a leading official has told City PM.

Saudi Arabia is readying a bid to host the Olympic Games but is prepared to wait until 2040 to maximise its chances, a leading official has told City PM.

Group CEO of Diriyah Company Jerry Inzerillo said it was a “matter of time before Saudi will announce an intention for an Olympic bid”, adding that it would be “fabulous”.

But the kingdom, which has rapidly expanded its sporting profile with successful bids for both the Asian Games and Fifa World Cup in 2034, may need to wait for the honour of hosting the biggest multi-sport competition in the world because India are favourites to stage the 2036 Olympics.

“People never thought Saudi Arabia had a chance to win the World Cup for 2034,” Inzerillo told City PM. “We did a good job on that [bid], and I think it is only a matter of time before Saudi will announce an intention for an Olympic bid. To have these giant international events, this is fabulous.”

Unbuilt sport city Qiddiya would likely be home to the Olympic village in a successful Saudi Arabia bid.

Ambition from the kingdom

After LA in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032, India, whose Ambani family – investors in Oval Invincibles and owners of Indian Premier League Mumbai team Indians – are major supporters, are making the most public attempt to draw the Games to a new country.

Recent reports suggest India could stage a multi-city Games, based around Ahmedabad, with its state Gujarat a contender for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

Diriyah Company chief Jerry Inzerillo

“There’s other factors; we’re hearing the Indians are very interested in staging the [2036] Olympics,” Inzerillo added. 

“I think from a capability point of view, all of us – not just me – feel we [Saudi Arabia] would have the capability to stage the ‘36 Games. But if it was a ‘36 Games or a ‘40 Games, certainly anything beyond ‘40, we could do it easily.

“If you come off the World Expo in ‘30, the Asian Winter Games in ‘29 and the World Cup in ‘34, the kingdom could keep those organising teams together to roll it into a ‘36 Olympics or a ‘40 Olympics. It makes a lot of sense.”

Diriyah is the cultural hub attached to Riyadh and centred around a Unesco World Heritage site. American Inzerillo is in charge of developing the birthplace of Saudi Arabia into a 100,000-strong cultural city. It has already partnered with Golf Saudi and hosted boxers Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr’s second bout.

Inzerillo insisted that the country’s hardware, stadiums, giga-projects, hotels and airports would be in a good position to cope with the demands of an Olympic Games.

Some have suggested that any winning bid from the kingdom would see a shift of the hosting window to the winter considered due to the weather. Qatar’s 2022 Fifa World Cup bid saw the final played on 18 December.