Vision 2030 paved the way for the sports sector in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia to build a distinctive future at all levels through its restructuring and development, focusing on a number of targets, including achieving excellence in sports regionally and globally, enhancing the professional work of the sector, as well as promoting the practice of Sports towards building a vibrant sports community, in addition to the participation of different age groups in various sports activities.

Based on this comprehensive national vision, launched by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and prime minister, the sports sector has launched to implement many qualitative programs and initiatives aimed at developing the sports system and its governance, in line with the goals of sports in the kingdom's Vision 2030.

These initiatives, which are supervised by the Ministry of sports, have recorded a significant increase in numbers over the past few years, as the operational efficiency of sports federations has increased by 39% through the sports federations support and development program, and the number of participants under the umbrella of Federations has increased by 139%, in addition to the inclusion of 400 elite athletes in the elite sports support and development program, who met the standards and conditions, signed contracts with them, and provided them with the maximum means of technical and logistical support to support their training programs, ensuring distinguished participation in sports forums regionally and internationally.

Through the initiative to support sports federations, it has also developed more than 54 strategies through the provision of training courses, workshops and financial support, which have contributed to the high levels of professionalism in various sports federations, and the impact of this was reflected in the turnout of athletes and participation in the official competitions of these games.

On the domestic level, the sports events have contributed to many positive outputs, the most prominent of which is the Saudi Games 2022 in its first edition, which highlighted the landmarks of the kingdom; through a tour in which the flame of the tournament toured 83 locations within 50 days, through the participation of 83 prominent personalities, where more than 6,000 athletes of both sexes participated in this tournament, they competed for a total prize pool of more than 200 million riyals, where the Saudi games, in its first edition, achieved a figure of 672 million riyals as a total economic impact, and it contributed SAR 218 million as a total value added to the national economy.

The sports events held at the local level also included the holding of various sports competitions within the "move with us" Program in 13 cities in various regions of the kingdom, to encourage all individuals to practice physical activities and promote a healthy lifestyle; more than 4,188 beneficiaries benefited from this program and its various activities.

Because the initiatives undertaken by the Ministry of sports, under the umbrella of the kingdom's Vision 2030, were characterized by inclusiveness and excellence, the events held included the holding of running and cycling races in 13 cities in various regions of the kingdom; in an effort to encourage community members to participate in building a vibrant sports community; to achieve a major goal in the vision, in addition to launching the million riyals Sports Challenge, coinciding with the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr, by inviting all community members to achieve 4,000 steps on a daily basis; through the "sports for all" application for smartphones, where 120 thousand steps were taken by the end of the holy month.

The initiatives also included the holding of the Jeddah half marathon events, attended by more than 2000 participants, and the "sand clash" event in Riyadh, for the largest fitness challenge in the kingdom, for the sport of "CrossFit", with the participation of the strongest international players of both sexes, whose number exceeded 700 athletes, representing more than 45 countries around the world, where more than 2000 visitors enjoyed the competitions.

The programs and events held gave the category of" expatriates " the opportunity to contribute to the journey of development, compete interesting competitions, contribute to building a vibrant community on the kingdom's soil, and the development of the sports sector, where a number of sports competitions were launched for expatriates in sports (cricket - basketball - volleyball - swimming - softball - tennis - rugby), with the participation of more than 23 thousand players in various regions of the kingdom.

The programs also shed light on the educational sector in the Kingdom, when the educational platform of the "My school is my movement" program was launched to urge all teachers and trainers, as well as university students, to register, train and develop their abilities to provide a healthier and more active environment for students of the Kingdom, and this initiative witnessed the participation of more than 3,700 teachers and students.

In addition to the "My Movement school" program, a physical fitness test was launched, physical education teachers were fully trained on the tests, training certificates were awarded to them, and 350 tools were distributed to teachers to apply the physical fitness test in preparation for the program's implementation within schools.

The initiative continued through its application to more than 700 teachers, who in turn implemented this initiative to more than 48 thousand students in various cities of the kingdom.

The kingdom's Vision 2030 continued to have a positive impact, achieving distinctive goals, through the establishment of 120 sports groups, and supporting 80 distinguished sports groups, within the activation program of sports groups in a number of universities in the kingdom, where the number of beneficiaries of the program reached 1875 beneficiaries.

The sports targets contributed to the national vision to enable women to participate in local, regional and international competitions, through the support of 40 female athletes to participate in international sports games, in order to enhance the practice of sports activities among all segments of society.

On the other hand, to ensure the continued growth and prosperity of the sports sector, supporting and adopting talents comes from the priorities of the Ministry of sports, as it established the Mahd Academy, which aims to develop talents, within individual and group games, starting from the age of 6, towards creating generations of sports champions, under the supervision of technical and administrative expertise; using scientific curricula and modern technologies, in addition to signing international partnerships that would contribute to achieving an integrated sports system, relying on schools as a major tributary in attracting promising Saudi talents.

With regard to the Ministry of Sports ' interest in encouraging the private sector to contribute to the development of the sports sector, more than 50 gyms have been allocated and made available to the private sector, in addition to providing a package of training programs for entrepreneurs to enhance their participation in the development of the sports sector.in this regard, the sports economy strategy has been adopted, which aims to provide opportunities for investors and the private sector to enhance the contribution of the sports sector to economic growth.

At the level of training and qualification of sports competencies, the Ministry of Sports has provided many opportunities; the most important of which is to support 28 beneficiaries of the ISDE master's program in sports management and recreation from the leaders preparation institute. The ministry, in partnership with universities, has also launched several programs to develop the level of scientific and mathematical qualification.

To encourage sports research, the Prince Faisal bin Fahd prize for sports research was established to honor the winning researchers to highlight the kingdom's role in supporting, developing and enriching global sports through sports research.

Care for people with special needs

The sports sector also did not lose sight of caring for people with special needs, where a "Pride program" was launched to rehabilitate people with disabilities, discover and develop their Sports abilities, as well as the establishment of the first local sports camps for war wounded; through the reception of (341) players with disabilities, in order to qualify them athletically, classify them, distribute them to approved games, and identify the needs of prosthetics and sports chairs.

As for the infrastructure of the sports sector, the number of active sports venues has increased to more than 7 thousand sports venues, for the implementation of sports programs, events and programs by the Saudi Federation for sports for all, and the programs of recreational and educational neighborhood clubs have been activated, from the inauguration of more than 45 clubs to encourage sports activities and promote a healthy lifestyle for various members of society in the kingdom.

All efforts exerted to implement qualitative sports initiatives and programs have led to an increase in the percentage of people practicing sports and physical activities on a weekly basis, to 48% of the total population practicing sports for at least 30 minutes a week, compared to what it was in 2019, when it reached 19%, and the percentage of practicing physical activity for 150 minutes of the population also increased from 20% in 2019, to 29% in 2021, which reflects the high awareness of the importance of exercise among all segments of society; it contributes to achieving one of the pillars of the Saudi Vision 2030; by reaching a vibrant community focused on sports, and practicing them regularly.

The initiatives that have been launched have also paid special attention to the development of infrastructure and improving the public experience by preparing 23 sports facilities for families - women, in all regions of the kingdom; to enhance their participation in attending various events, and this has contributed to raising the level of satisfaction and enhancing the practice of sports activities by all segments of society, specifically families and women.

As part of the ongoing series of achievements of the sports sector, within the framework of the kingdom's Vision 2030, work is underway to prepare the national strategy for sports, which aims to activate the joint strategies between the following sectors: (education– health– municipalities– Arts, Culture and heritage– hospitality and tourism– entertainment– the third sector– investment), in order to establish an effective sports sector, building an active society, achieving international achievements.

All these sports initiatives and programs over the past few years have contributed directly to the rearrangement of Saudi sports papers, laid the foundation stone for transforming Saudi sports into an industry and investment, made the environment of the sports system a promising market, and qualitatively influenced the development and advancement of the sports sector, towards achieving the desired excellence at all levels.

Electronic sports

The development of the sports sector also included sports and electronic games, so the Public Investment Fund announced at the beginning of last year 2022, the launch of Safi group for electronic games, headed by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, with the aim of developing the games and e-sports sector at the local and international levels, and then acquired the company "ESL", the world leader in entertainment events and competitions in the field of e-sports, and the company "FACE IT", the leading digital platform in e-sports, and merged them under the company "ESL FACE IT Group"; Safi group in this sector, and the objectives of Vision 2030 to develop the sectors This contributes to providing development opportunities and diversifying the sources of income of the Saudi economy.

The kingdom holds many tournaments in the gaming and esports sector, such as the gamer season, the largest global gaming and esports event, and"players without borders", the largest charity event in the gaming and esports sector, in addition to many local tournaments such as the Saudi esports league, the Esports Federation Cup and many local tournaments in which the Saudi Esports Federation seeks to enable Saudi players to compete in major esports forums globally.

The kingdom is a favorite destination for international events

The vision continued to have a great positive impact on the sports sector, when the kingdom became a favorite destination for various athletes and major continental and international competitions in many games, as these hosts contribute to strengthening the kingdom's position internationally, the development of the sports investment sector, as well as enhancing the tourism sector.

Speaking of success stories in the hosting file, the kingdom has hosted many international sporting events, even becoming a home for motor sports, according to the Saudi sports minister, such as Formula 1 and the Dakar Rally.

The kingdom also hosted international events in boxing, golf, freestyle wrestling, equestrian, handball, football, tennis, and other sports, most notably: Wrestling shows such as Crown Jewel, the Red Sea fight in boxing and golf, the Spanish Super Cup, the Italian Super Cup, cycling competitions, the International Marathon in 2022 and 2023, the "extreme E 2022" race for the third time, the World Club Handball Championship "Super Globe" for the third time in a row, the finals of the world tennis tour starting next November and for 5 years, the world championship of Electric Boat Racing 2024, the merger between the American PGA Golf League and the golf", financed by the Public Investment Fund, which effectively brought the entire world of golf to the kingdom.

This calendar of international sports events that have been held over the past years, and it is planned to continue with new events in other sports in the coming years, only means that the kingdom of Saudi Arabia has broken into the field strongly to remain and lead.

Investment and allocation project

The investment and allocation project for sports clubs was not the birth of the moment, but it is the fruits of sustainable work, and well-thought-out strategic plans, the initiatives of which are being implemented at the Ministry of sports.the strategy of supporting sports clubs launched in 2019, and entering its fifth year next season, is one of the most important initiatives that opened wide horizons for sports in the kingdom, through the application of the highest standards of governance and the development of clubs to ensure their financial, administrative and operational sustainability.

Considering the figures achieved, the initiative has contributed to turning major challenges into achievements on the ground.after the sports clubs were suffering from poor financial resources, the volume of their revenues from sponsors increased to SR 328 million in the 2022-2023 season, and 89% of the Professional League clubs were able to obtain a certificate of financial competence, and the number of clubs that entered into the strategy increased from 16 clubs in the 2019-2020 season to 61 clubs in the 2022-2023 season.

The strategy also created a fertile environment for sports fans to attend, which increased the attendance from 1.1 million fans in the 2019-2020 season to 2.1 million fans in the 2022-2023 season.

It confirms that the time has come for an important exceptional stage, represented by the investment and allocation project for sports clubs, towards achieving the goals of the Saudi Vision 2030 aimed at building an effective sports sector and a prosperous economy, through raising the levels of professionalism and governance that will lead athletes to achieve the desired excellence at the level of clubs and national teams, and raise the flag of the nation in various forums and major events.