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Saudi Crown Prince Crowns Team Falcons as Winners of Esports World Cup 2025 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presents the Team Falcons leader with the trophy. (SPA)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presents the Team Falcons leader with the trophy. (SPA)
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Saudi Crown Prince Crowns Team Falcons as Winners of Esports World Cup 2025 

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presents the Team Falcons leader with the trophy. (SPA)
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman presents the Team Falcons leader with the trophy. (SPA)

Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister, attended on Sunday the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup 2025 in Riyadh, during which he crowned “Team Falcons” as champion.

Team Falcons topped the tournament standings with 5,200 points, securing the grand prize of $7 million out of a total prize pool exceeding $70 million - the largest in the history of global esports. The prizes were distributed among teams, players, and participants according to their tournament rankings.

The Crown Prince’s presence at the event reflects his continued and substantial support for the gaming and esports sector through a comprehensive framework of regulations and initiatives driven by the National Gaming and Esports Strategy, which he launched in 2022.

The strategy aims to build a globally competitive and sustainable sector and achieve the goals of Saudi Vision 2030. It serves as a key pillar for creating 39,000 jobs, contributing up to SAR50 billion to GDP by 2030, supporting the establishment of startups, and attracting global investment in gaming and esports.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the closing ceremony. (SPA)

CEO of the Esports World Cup Foundation Ralf Reichert praised the Crown Prince’s support for the tournament, stressing that the Kingdom succeeded in creating a unique global experience that combined diverse games, strong competitions, attractive entertainment activities, global attendance, and vast online viewership.

The seven-week tournament witnessed broad participation from clubs and players from countries across the globe, alongside unprecedented audience and media attendance. A total of 2,000 professional players competed in 200 clubs from 100 countries across 25 tournaments featuring the world’s most popular esports titles.

The tournament gained a distinctly global character and set records in multiple areas, including the number of tournaments, prize value, and audience engagement.

The Esports World Cup originated from a Saudi initiative announced by Crown Prince Mohammed in 2023, with Riyadh hosting its first edition in 2024 to great international success. This paved the way for the 2025 edition, which was organized at an unprecedented technical and organizational level.

Al-Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo with the tournament trophy at the closing ceremony. (SPA)

By hosting this exceptional tournament, the Kingdom has strengthened its advanced global position in gaming and esports, delivering a unique experience that combined competition with innovation and boosted performance indicators. The tournament recorded a 53% rise in ticket sales, a 40% increase in average content demand, and a 64% growth in international sales.

Moreover, competitions were broadcast in 35 languages to over 100 countries, in a global media production that reflected the scale of organization and level of participation.

Over the course of the tournament, the Boulevard Riyadh City welcomed more than 3 million visitors. At the same time, over 750 million viewers worldwide followed the competitions through digital platforms, with a total watch time exceeding 350 million hours. The accompanying events featured more than 1,500 community, cultural, and entertainment activities.

With the conclusion of the Esports World Cup 2025, Riyadh continues to cement its position as a global capital of esports, adding another achievement to the Kingdom’s record of international successes. This further supports the development goals of the sports and entertainment sectors and drives digital transformation to broader horizons.

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Gulf

Lebanese President Honors Saudi Ambassador Bukhari with National Order of the Cedar

President Aoun decorated Bukhari with the National Order of the Cedar - SPA
President Aoun decorated Bukhari with the National Order of the Cedar - SPA
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Lebanese President Honors Saudi Ambassador Bukhari with National Order of the Cedar

President Aoun decorated Bukhari with the National Order of the Cedar - SPA
President Aoun decorated Bukhari with the National Order of the Cedar - SPA

President of the Lebanese Republic General Joseph Aoun welcomed Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon Waleed Bukhari at Baabda Palace to mark the conclusion of his diplomatic mission, SPA reported.

President Aoun decorated Bukhari with the National Order of the Cedar, commending his role in strengthening and developing relations between the two countries across various fields, and wishing him success in his new duties.

Bukhari expressed his gratitude and his hope that Lebanon would reclaim its prominence in the region and that its people would enjoy security, stability, and prosperity.

Gulf

860,000 Pilgrims Arrive as Saudi Arabia Declares Full Readiness for Hajj

The ministers affirmed the Kingdom’s full readiness to serve pilgrims. (Photo by Saleh Al-Ghannam) 
The ministers affirmed the Kingdom’s full readiness to serve pilgrims. (Photo by Saleh Al-Ghannam) 
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860,000 Pilgrims Arrive as Saudi Arabia Declares Full Readiness for Hajj

The ministers affirmed the Kingdom’s full readiness to serve pilgrims. (Photo by Saleh Al-Ghannam) 
The ministers affirmed the Kingdom’s full readiness to serve pilgrims. (Photo by Saleh Al-Ghannam) 

Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it was fully prepared to receive and serve pilgrims during this year’s Hajj season through an integrated system of security, health, transport and logistical services from arrival through departure.

Speaking at a government press conference on Wednesday, five Saudi ministers stressed the Kingdom’s readiness to ensure the safety of pilgrims, facilitate their movement and improve services at the holy sites in Makkah and Medina.

Saudi Information Minister Salman Al-Dossary said the Kingdom’s Hajj security system was operating through detailed plans based on crowd movement analysis and forecasting using artificial intelligence and modern technologies to improve response times and safety.

Al-Dossary stressed that the Interior Ministry continued to implement the “Makkah Route” initiative for an eighth year in 10 countries through 17 entry points. Since its launch, more than 1.2 million pilgrims have benefited from the program, he said. He added that fifth-generation mobile network coverage at the holy sites had reached 100%, supported by more than 4,200 technical personnel working on the ground.

More than 150 media organizations and over 3,000 local and international journalists are covering this year’s Hajj season, according to Al-Dossary.

Meanwhile, Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq Al-Rabiah said more than 860,000 pilgrims had arrived so far through air, land and sea ports.

“The opportunity has been made available for more than 30 Saudi companies to provide services for foreign pilgrims and enable direct booking without intermediaries from more than 126 non-Muslim countries,” Al-Rabiah stated.

He added that accommodation capacity at Mina had been expanded through the construction of the Kedana Al-Khaif camps near the Jamarat complex over an area of 24,000 square meters.

Al-Rabiah revealed that the “Pilgrim Without a Bag” initiative had been expanded to all foreign pilgrims this year, allowing them to ship luggage directly from their home countries to their accommodation and have it returned after the pilgrimage. He said processing times had been cut from 120 minutes to 15 minutes.

He added that services for pilgrims were being coordinated among more than 60 government and operational entities through over 600 work plans. The Nusuk application now serves more than 51 million users worldwide and offers more than 130 digital services during this year’s Hajj season, he underlined.

For his part, Transport and Logistics Minister Saleh Al-Jasser noted that the aviation sector had mobilized its operational capacity across Saudi airports to ensure a smooth travel experience for pilgrims.

More than 3 million seats have been allocated through six airports linking the Kingdom to more than 300 airports worldwide via 104 airlines, he said, adding that airports were equipped to receive more than 1.5 million pilgrims arriving from abroad. Early transport packages introduced for pilgrims would help shield them from rising transportation costs, he remarked.

The minister further pointed that authorities had carried out extensive road maintenance and bridge repairs and expanded the use of road-cooling technology at the holy sites.

He explained that more than 3,000 buses have been allocated to transport pilgrims between accommodations and the Grand Mosque, while another 5,000 buses will provide shuttle services. More than 46,000 personnel have also been deployed to serve pilgrims during the Hajj season.

Municipalities and Housing Minister Majed Al-Hogail said services provided to pilgrims had evolved significantly in recent years through greater coordination among government agencies.

He told the press conference that municipal authorities across the Kingdom were working together to support pilgrims arriving through ports and regional roads, while advanced infrastructure networks covering 4.6 million square meters had been completed between the holy sites.

More than 88,000 sanitation workers are operating around the clock, while authorities are conducting 2,800 daily inspections covering food, water and public facilities, according to Al-Hogail.

Health Minister Fahad Al-Jalajel said Saudi Arabia had continued developing its Hajj system year after year until it became a global model for managing mass gatherings.

Responding to concerns over epidemics, including hantavirus, Al-Jalajel stated that there was “no concern over any epidemic” affecting pilgrims and that Saudi authorities were closely coordinating with international organizations.

He noted that more than 52,000 healthcare workers had been deployed for this year’s Hajj season, supported by over 20,000 hospital beds, including 3,800 beds at the holy sites — triple last year’s capacity.

Authorities have also allocated 3,000 ambulances, 11 medical evacuation aircraft and 7,700 paramedics, in addition to 25 healthcare centers supporting hospitals at the holy sites, he added.

 

 

 

Gulf

Saudi Defense Minister Meets with UK’s National Security Adviser

Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz
Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz
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Saudi Defense Minister Meets with UK’s National Security Adviser

Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz
Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz

Saudi Minister of Defense Prince Khalid bin Salman bin Abdulaziz has met in Jeddah with National Security Adviser for the United Kingdom Jonathan Powell.

During the meeting, the two sides reviewed aspects of Saudi-British relations and cooperation and discussed coordination to address the challenges facing the region amid its current developments, as well as efforts to de-escalate the situation in a manner that preserves security and stability.

The meeting was attended by Adviser to the Minister of Defense for Intelligence Affairs Hisham bin Saif.

On the British side, the meeting was attended by Prime Minister's Special Adviser for Business and Investment Varun Chandra, British Ambassador to the Kingdom Stephen Hitchen, and a number of officials.