RIYADH (Dispatches) – Saudi Arabia is set to cancel next year’s Joy Awards and has quietly shelved plans to build the NEOM Stadium for the 2034 FIFA World Cup, two of the most prominent retractions yet as financial strain and the war on Iran force Riyadh to abandon the crown jewels of Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman’s Vision 2030 transformation.
The Joy Awards, held each January and billed as the kingdom’s answer to the Oscars and Grammys, has become the centrepiece of Riyadh’s events calendar, drawing performers including Katy Perry and Robbie Williams this year. 
The NEOM Stadium, a 46,000-seat arena to be elevated inside the 100-mile steel-and-glass structure known as The Line, has been shelved indefinitely, two sources said. 
MEED Projects, which tracks regional construction, lists the $2.5 billion project as “on hold” with no completion date. NEOM and the government media office did not respond to requests for comment.
The cancellations mark the collapse of the entertainment and giga-project strategy at the heart of Vision 2030. Last month, the Red Sea Film Festival was postponed to 2027, and organizers called off Soundstorm, the city-sized desert rave headlined by Cardi B last year. 
In January, Reuters reported that construction of The Mukaab, a $50 billion cube-shaped skyscraper in Riyadh, had been suspended. The government has withdrawn funding from LIV Golf after spending over $5 billion, and Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of NEOM’s owner the Public Investment Fund, confirmed in April that The Line was no longer a priority.
The retractions reflect a deepening fiscal crisis. Last week, the Ministry of Finance projected a deficit wider than previously forecast and a real GDP contraction of 3.6% following a drop in oil activities. 
The war on Iran has disrupted energy shipments, damaged critical infrastructure, and exposed the kingdom to retaliation from Yemen.  
The kingdom’s Western-style entertainment push has long been condemned by many Muslims as a violation of Islamic tenets in the birthplace of Islam.
Soundstorm, with its gender-mixing, dancing, and displays of queer culture, drew particular ire and stunned even some supporters of the kingdom’s broader social opening.