Saudi Arabia win bid to host 2029 Asian Winter Games at desert megacity

[muriel_volestrangler]

‘Trojena will be a year-round destination for winter sports’

Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it has won a bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games at a planned mountain resort in the Gulf Arab state’s $500bn (£440bn) flagship Neom project.

The Trojena development is expected to be completed in 2026 and will offer outdoor skiing, a man-made freshwater lake and a nature reserve, according to the project’s website.
...
Nadhmi al-Nasr, the Neom chief executive, said: “Trojena will have a suitable infrastructure to create the winter atmosphere in the heart of the desert, to make this Winter Games an unprecedented global event.”

Neom is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s most ambitious project under the kingdom’s Vision 2030 development plan to reduce reliance on oil and transform the economy, including by developing sports.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/04/saudi-arabia-to-host-2029-asian-winter-games-at-desert-megacity-neom-trojena

From October, but I didn't hear about it then, and it doesn't seem to have been on DU. It's absurd. And a symptom of why humanity may yet kill civilization. That monarchy has more money than it knows what to do with - not just because they have loads of money, but also because they are fundamentally dumb, and they actually kill off the family members who exhibit too much common sense.

[sabbat hunter]

1. what the fuck

I guess the people behind the Asian Winter games are just as corrupt as the IOC, and the people behind the World Cup.

[Bayard]

2. Skiing in the desert

Should be fun. Especially the x-country.