Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, Minister of Sports and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, launched the first edition of the "Saudi Games" which is one of the "Quality of Life" program, and which is supervised by the Saudi Olympic Committee, during the period from March 23 Until next April 1 in the capital Riyadh. This came during the press conference held today in the green halls of the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex in Riyadh, in the presence of sports officials. Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki described the tournament as the largest sporting event in the history of the Kingdom in terms of the number of participants and games, as it will gather more than 6000 players and 2000 technical and administrative supervisors from 13 regions in the Kingdom, in addition to the "Friends of Saudi Arabia" team composed of foreign athletes from different Countries of the world who will compete in 40 different games, adding, "More than 5,000 volunteers will participate in the organization under the supervision of the most prominent specialists from different countries of the world, so that the Saudi Games will be a golden opportunity for young men and women of the Kingdom who are aspiring to work in the sports field to enhance their expertise in this field." He added, "This tournament is an affirmation of the Kingdom's ability to continue making sporting achievements that we are proud of, and this reality would not have been achieved without the kind care and continuous and unlimited support of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense. This event is an additional step in the journey to achieving the goals of the Kingdom's 2030 vision in the sports sector." He also announced the huge financial rewards for the tournament and said, "With the support of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, every gold medal winner will receive one million Saudi riyals, and every silver medal winner will receive 300 thousand Saudi riyals, while the bronze medal winner will receive 100,000 Saudi riyals." He drew attention to the fact that the tournament will witness many accompanying events starting from the "Saudi International Olympic Forum" which will host many international sports figures during the period from 23-24 of next March, and the fans area in the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Olympic Complex and the King Abdullah Financial Center which includes many sports competitions and entertainment events for all family members, in addition to the Olympic exhibition and museum that summarizes the history of the Olympic Movement and the heroes of various games in Saudi Arabia. He also said, "The Saudi Athletes Forum will be held March 31, through which we aim to stimulate the Saudi sports community by meeting a number of Saudi and international athletes and listening to their success stories, in addition to holding dialogue sessions that include the most prominent local and international experts in various fields, including sports support programs, health and fitness programs, talent development, anti-doping and many sports topics. " The tournament flame was lit through the Saudi Karate player, Mohammed Al-Asiri, who won the Karate Competition at the Buenos Aires Olympics 2018 AD for youth, who handed it to the Saudi national team player, Al-Hasna Al-Hammad, the first female Saudi player to win an Asian medal, which in turn handed her to Olympic runner Hadi Sawaan, who won a silver race 400m hurdles at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, tournament director affirmed that 95% of the tournament's team is Saudis, and this is evidence of the sport's leadership's confidence in the Saudi youth who will be able to organize the tournament at the highest levels. The 40 games included are, swimming, water polo, athletics, darts, badminton, basketball, triple basketball (3x3), bowling, boxing, billiards, camel racing, climbing, bicycles, chess, equestrian. , electronic sports, fencing, futsal, golf, gymnastics, handball, judo, jujitsu, karate, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, archery, squash, volleyball, beach volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, beach handball, Boxing, "MMA" Diverse Martial Arts, Thai Boxing, Endurance Racing, bodybuilding, the indoor rowing machine, as well as non-traditional promotional games aiming to introduce new sports to the Saudi scene. The official website of the Saudi Games www.Saudigames.sa was officially launched, which is the platform through which athletes will be able to register to participate in the largest sporting event in the region. It will be closed on March 2, to be followed by the official experiences of amateur registrants of both gender in different headquarters in the regions. The list of participating names representing each region will be announced on March 10, as the participating teams will move to Riyadh to prepare for the start of the tournament on March 23. The public can interact with the tournament and follow its news on @SaudiOlympic social media platforms
