The Asian Winter Games planned for 2029 at the Saudi mountain resort of NEOM have been indefinitely postponed without any specific reason provided at the time of writing, according to a joint statement issued by Saudi Arabia’s Olympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
The statement by the two bodies announcing the cancellation comes after sustainability, financial feasibility, and safety questions over the NEOM Games. NEOM is a Saudi Arabian giga development in the northwestern province of Tabuk, intended to become a futuristic megacity, providing “the urban model of tomorrow in which humanity evolves without harming the health of the Planet.” It is designed to be powered 100% by renewables and is a key part of the kingdom’s decarbonisation plans.
At the heart of NEOM is Trojena, a 60-km2 year-round ski, wellness, and sports “village,” situated 50km from the Gulf of Aqaba in the Sarawat Mountains, where a microclimate is supposed to make artificial and natural snow possible via renewable energy and water management.
In late 2024, Hyatt Hotels Corporation made public its plans to open two new hotels in NEOM, citing Saudi Arabia as “a key market in Hyatt’s growth strategy in the Middle East.”
The NEOM project was initially funded by the kingdom’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to the tune of $800 billion out of a predicted $1.5 trillion, with a 10 billion riyals (€2.51 billion) loan from Saudi banks, plus bond sales. The gradual diversification of investments was widely thought by commentators to illustrate the kingdom’s various struggles to finance the development, especially given the scope of its other infrastructure commitments and the other major events it had programmed, such as the 2030-2031 Riyadh Expo and 2034’s FIFA World Cup.
With a recent drop in oil demand driving prices and Saudi revenues down, the announcement on the 2029 Winter Games appears to confirm what the Saudis themselves have already admitted. Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al‑Jadaan said in 2025 that “no ego” would influence how the nation would continue to assess its initiatives and commitments, pointing to the need to be able to pivot to faster-growing sectors as required.
Now that pragmatism is playing out with the approach to the Winter Games. Alongside the OCA, and following what the latest statement called “extensive consultations between the two organizations,” Saudi Arabia has said it will instead play host to other winter sports events over the coming years.
