Saudi Sports Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal on Sunday revealed many goals that the Kingdom will be working on during 2022, foremost of which is the launch of a national strategy for sports and raising private sector contribution in the sports sector.
Moreover, Saudi Arabia will continue to discover talent, host international sports events, and increase the number of licenses granted for halls, centers, academies, and sports clubs.
Besides increasing the number of direct jobs in the sector, the Kingdom will work to boost the number of women’s teams to 35 in several games.
At a post-budget media forum in Riyadh on Monday, Prince Abdulaziz pointed out the many achievements that were made for the sports sector in 2021 despite the challenges caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
He noted that his ministry’s priorities included encouraging citizens and residents to exercise sports, creating talent, developing elite athletes, promoting the sports sector in developing the economy, and hosting international and global events.
Prince Abdulaziz explained that the total value of non-governmental revenues for the Prince Mohammad bin Salman League during the last two years amounted to more than SR1.8 billion, indicating that the revenues of 2021 reached more than SR1.1 billion riyals.
Additionally, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Sport is reviewing 100 applications from private investors to open different sports projects in the Kingdom.
The sports minister said his ministry approved 30 new licenses for different sports projects in the private sector.
The ministry owns 170 local clubs, and it plans to increase this with private investors, he added saying, the Kingdom wants to raise the contribution of sports to the gross domestic product to 1.2 % by 2030.
