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Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan to Asharq Al-Awsat: Electronic Games Revenues in Saudi Arabia Top $576Mln

President of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic Sports (SAFEIS) Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
President of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic Sports (SAFEIS) Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan to Asharq Al-Awsat: Electronic Games Revenues in Saudi Arabia Top $576Mln

President of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic Sports (SAFEIS) Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
President of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic Sports (SAFEIS) Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

President of the Saudi Arabian Federation for Electronic Sports (SAFEIS) Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz revealed that revenues from the electronic games market in the Kingdom top 576 million dollars annually.

In an exclusive interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, he said this figure motivates the field to become more productive and to create more ideas to further increase revenues. On the global scale, gaming revenues reached 1.1 billion dollars in 2019, a 27 percent increase from 2018.

Prince Faisal revealed that statistics at the SAFEIS indicate that some 6 million amateur gamers are present in the Kingdom. In other words, these gamers do not have a contract agreement with a sports club that is registered at the federation. The federation boasts 35 clubs. Globally, 1.2 billion gamers were confirmed in 2020, while viewers of eSports are constantly rising. Nearly half a billion people have tuned in to watch eSports this year, compared to 335 million in 2017.

Moreover, Prince Faisal revealed that talks are ongoing with the Ministry of Education to develop curricula and scholarships related to eSports. Studies are ongoing over how to take advantage of the youths’ interest in eSports and to develop a teaching mechanism and best healthy practices related to this sector.

Talks are also ongoing with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology to improve the quality of internet services in some parts of the Kingdom and to motivate game developers to enter the Saudi market. The aim is to eventually attract developers so that the Kingdom could be transformed into a hub for the Middle East.

In the three years since its establishment, said Prince Faisal, the federation has developed the eSports sector in the Kingdom starting from nurturing the professional and social competition environment to motivating investors to promote growth in the sector.

The federation hosted Gamers Without Borders, the world’s biggest charity eSports festival in 2020. Prizes totaled 10 million dollars and they were donated by winners to 12 charities that are dedicated to combating COVID-19, he told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Over 460,000 players from 141 countries took part in the tournament and over 14 million viewers tuned in. The winnings were given to UNICEF, Direct Relief, GAVI, and International Medical Corps and others.

The federation hosted the Fortnite Middle East and North Africa tournament that was launched by the International Esports Federation (IESF). Saudi Arabia won first and second place at the event, he added.

These victories demonstrate the talent and potential boasted by Saudis in the eSports sector, he remarked. “It motivates us to offer more support to nurture these talents. We have a clear plan to transform Saudi Arabia into a global pioneer in eSports.”

Given that children and youths are very interested in eSports, the federation has been keen on forging a special relationship with the Ministry of Health, continued Prince Faisal. It has offered several successful initiatives and programs, including the universities league that was organized in cooperation with the Saudi Universities League. Plans are in place to hold the second edition of the event in 2022. Discussions are also underway to develop curricula and scholarships related to eSports.

Commenting on the Saudi eSports League, Prince Faisal said that the second edition of the event was held and it has witnessed remarkable development since its launch. Channels have started to broadcast the competition in full and in a professional manner. “Plans are definitely in place to expand to hold global championships and we are aiming to develop the fanbase for it. The aim is to reach a professional and competitive level at international eSports events.”

Returning to Gamers Without Borders, Prince Faisal said the 2021 edition of the event will be held under the slogan “One world, one body”. It seeks to help needy countries access the COVID-19 vaccines through donating the prize money to the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief). The center will in turn offer it to global parties that will send the vaccines to countries in need. Furthermore, the event will feature an educational platform, organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, that will offer free courses that will help interested people build their professional careers around eSports.

Prince Faisal highlighted the significance of events such as Gamers Without Borders that bring together gamers from throughout the world, regardless of race, culture and religion, all with the same charity goal.

Given the Saudi interest in eSports, the federation is seeking to build a complete sector that allows gamers to compete on a professional level, continued Prince Faisal. This will in turn reap economic benefits and increase the level of competitiveness that will transform the Kingdom into a regional and international eSports hub.

“The opportunities are endless,” he stressed, which confirms the federation’s goal to develop the sector in line with Vision 2030 that seeks to achieve real and comprehensive development that supports the national economy.

Coming to statistics, Saudi Arabia ranks first globally in the FIFA eWorld Cup, winning the title in 2015, 2018 and 2019. Eight of the ten gamers from West Asia are Saudi, he added. The Kingdom boasts over 300 professional gamers, who have a contract with an official club. The Saudi eSports league also includes resident non-Saudis.

Overall, said Prince Faisal, the Kingdom’s higher leadership has shown great interest in various forms of sports. Minister of Sports and head of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki al-Faisal is also constantly following up on the sector.

“This in turn motivates us to achieve the eSports goals and aspirations of our nation,” stressed Prince Faisal.

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Interviews

Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
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Goldrich to Asharq Al-Awsat: No US Withdrawal from Syria

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat
US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich during the interview with Asharq Al-Awsat

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Ethan Goldrich has told Asharq Al-Awsat that the US does not plan to withdraw its forces from Syria.

The US is committed to “the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with,” he said.

Here is the full text of the interview.

Question: Mr. Goldrich, thank you so much for taking the time to sit with us today. I know you are leaving your post soon. How do you assess the accomplishments and challenges remaining?

Answer: Thank you very much for the chance to talk with you today. I've been in this position for three years, and so at the end of three years, I can see that there's a lot that we accomplished and a lot that we have left to do. But at the beginning of a time I was here, we had just completed a review of our Syria policy, and we saw that we needed to focus on reducing suffering for the people in Syria. We needed to reduce violence. We needed to hold the regime accountable for things that are done and most importantly, from the US perspective, we needed to keep ISIS from reemerging as a threat to our country and to other countries. At the same time, we also realized that there wouldn't be a solution to the crisis until there was a political process under resolution 2254, so in each of these areas, we've seen both progress and challenges, but of course, on ISIS, we have prevented the reemergence of the threat from northeast Syria, and we've helped deal with people that needed to be repatriated out of the prisons, and we dealt with displaced people in al-Hol to reduce the numbers there. We helped provide for stabilization in those parts of Syria.

Question: I want to talk a little bit about the ISIS situation now that the US troops are still there, do you envision a timeline where they will be withdrawn? Because there were some reports in the press that there is a plan from the Biden administration to withdraw.

Answer: Yeah. So right now, our focus is on the mission that we have there to keep ISIS from reemerging. So I know there have been reports, but I want to make clear that we remain committed to the role that we play in that part of Syria, to the partnership that we have with the local forces that we work with, and to the need to prevent that threat from reemerging.

Question: So you can assure people who are saying that you might withdraw, that you are remaining for the time being?

Answer: Yes, and that we remain committed to this mission which needs to continue to be pursued.

Question: You also mentioned the importance of humanitarian aid. The US has been leading on this. Are you satisfied with where you are today on the humanitarian front in Syria?

Answer: We remain committed to the role that we play to provide for humanitarian assistance in Syria. Of the money that was pledged in Brussels, we pledged $593 million just this past spring, and we overall, since the beginning of the conflict, have provided $18 billion both to help the Syrians who are inside of Syria and to help the refugees who are in surrounding countries. And so we remain committed to providing that assistance, and we remain keenly aware that 90% of Syrians are living in poverty right now, and that there's been suffering there. We're doing everything we can to reduce the suffering, but I think where we would really like to be is where there's a larger solution to the whole crisis, so Syrian people someday will be able to provide again for themselves and not need this assistance.

Question: And that's a perfect key to my next question. Solution in Syria. you are aware that the countries in the region are opening up to Assad again, and you also have the EU signaling overture to the Syrian regime and Assad. How do you deal with that?

Answer: For the United States, our policy continues to be that we will not normalize with the regime in Syria until there's been authentic and enduring progress on the goals of resolution 2254, until the human rights of the Syrian people are respected and until they have the civil and human rights that they deserve. We know other countries have engaged with the regime. When those engagements happen, we don't support them, but we remind the countries that are engaged that they should be using their engagements to push forward on the shared international goals under 2254, and that whatever it is that they're doing should be for the sake of improving the situation of the Syrian people.

Question: Let's say that all of the countries decided to talk to Assad, aren’t you worried that the US will be alienated in the process?

Answer: The US will remain true to our own principles and our own policies and our own laws, and the path for the regime in Syria to change its relationship with us is very clear, if they change the behaviors that led to the laws that we have and to the policies that we have, if those behaviors change and the circumstances inside of Syria change, then it's possible to have a different kind of relationship, but that's where it has to start.

Question: My last question to you before you leave, if you have to pick one thing that you need to do in Syria today, what is it that you would like to see happening today?

Answer: So there are a number of things, I think that will always be left and that there are things that we will try to do, to try to make them happen. We want to hold people accountable in Syria for things that have happened. So even today, we observed something called the International Day for victims of enforced disappearances, there are people that are missing, and we're trying to draw attention to the need to account for the missing people. So our step today was to sanction a number of officials who were responsible for enforced disappearances, but we also created something called the independent institution for missing persons, and that helps the families, in the non-political way, get information on what's happened. So I'd like to see some peace for the families of the missing people. I'd like to see the beginning of a political process, there hasn't been a meeting of the constitutional committee in two years, and I think that's because the regime has not been cooperating in political process steps. So we need to change that situation. And I would, of course, like it's important to see the continuation of the things that we were talking about, so keeping ISIS from reemerging and maintaining assistance as necessary in the humanitarian sphere. So all these things, some of them are ongoing, and some of them remain to be achieved. But the Syrian people deserve all aspects of our policy to be fulfilled and for them to be able to return to a normal life.