JEDDAH (AFP) – Saudi Arabia sees hosting an Olympics as its “ultimate goal” in a growing sports portfolio, its sports minister told AFP, while rejecting criticism of the kingdom over its rights record.
Investing in sport is part of a multi-pronged strategy approved six years ago to diversify the oil-reliant economy, under de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, 36.
Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal spoke to AFP in the Red Sea city of Jeddah ahead of the heavyweight boxing clash in which Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk beat Anthony Joshua of Britain in the early hours of Sunday.
In 2034, the capital Riyadh will host the Asian Games, a large-scale multi-sports event that Prince Abdulaziz said could foreshadow a bid for the Summer Olympics.
The Usyk-Joshua fight came a day after the United Nations rights office said it was “appalled” by the 34-year prison sentence a Saudi court issued to Salma al-Shehab, a doctoral student in Britain.
She had been found guilty of aiding dissidents seeking to “disrupt public order” in the kingdom by relaying their tweets.
Saudi Arabia has drawn major criticism over the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and for cracking down on rights activists, many of whom have been jailed or banned from travel.
Saudi sports events are routinely accused of being used as a distraction from human rights violations, a practice dubbed “sportswashing”.
Last year the kingdom joined the F1 circuit, and the state Public Investment Fund is bankrolling LIV Golf, which has lured a swathe of top players with hefty signing bonuses and $25-million purses, creating a schism in the sport.