By Dr. Jassim Al-Yaqout
Deputy Head of the Arab Media Union
Sports bring us together and do not divide us, and football is our culture, our love, and our friendship. Therefore, football has occupied a prominent priority in the Saudi sports “vision” for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2030. It has also taken a prominent position among the areas that have caught the attention of the state and the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. The Kingdom aims, through its ambitious sports “project,” to play a pioneering role and occupy a clear place on the “global” sports map and compete in all games and competitions, especially in the games where the Kingdom has achieved tangible superiority and Arab, Asian, and international recognition.
The Kingdom seeks to promote its ambitious and massive Saudi sports project with several goals, including stimulating tourism, local spending, diversifying national income sources, and expanding the country’s economic base. Saudi sports is considered a promising economic investment that opens many doors to new resources that can inject new blood into the national economy, providing it with more vitality and well-being. Additionally, organizing competitions, tournaments, and sports events in Saudi Arabia plays a significant role in boosting the morale of Saudi youth. Furthermore, these tournaments and competitions contribute to the formation of a balanced personality, both socially and psychologically, and the development of sports ethics, instilling them in the youth. They sow in the young generation the spirit of initiative, dedication, and giving, as well as driving them to strive for excellence. Ultimately, achieving all these goals presents Saudi Arabia with a distinguished and exceptional civilized image among the nations and peoples of the world.
By reading and understanding the Kingdom’s vision, a keen observer can realize the development, growth, and progress that Saudi sports has witnessed in recent years. Saudi sports has embarked on broader horizons and a wider framework within this vision. The observer can also comprehend this deeply by reading the Quality of Life program, one of the programs that supports the achievement of the vision, which promotes the qualification and training of national cadres in sectors related to the quality of life, including the sports sector.
The vision emphasizes this by stating, “We all know that a healthy and balanced lifestyle is one of the most important components of the quality of life. However, the currently available opportunities for regular physical activities do not meet our aspirations. Therefore, we will establish more facilities and sports infrastructure in partnership with the private sector, and everyone will be able to practice their favorite sports in an ideal environment. We will encourage all types of sports to achieve sporting excellence at the local and global levels and reach advanced international ranks in several sports.”
This perspective, included in the vision, reflects dozens of plans, programs, initiatives, and projects dedicated to the development and advancement of sports. It also reflects the level of interest, care, and support that the state gives to sports, which has become a fundamental pillar in building and completing the physical, mental, social, and even developmental health and safety of society. Moreover, it has become a major industry relying on billions of investments and has a significant impact on shaping healthy, social, and human lifestyles, as well as the ethical values of contemporary societies that align with the goals and values of international organizations such as the United Nations, FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, and the International Sports Press Association. These organizations have contributed to spreading love and peace among peoples, exchanging cultures, rejecting racism, and sporting fanaticism.
If sports play such an important role in physical development and the psychological formation of citizens, then most experts, sports journalists, and observers agree on the importance of Saudi sports as one of the “key soft power tools” adopted by the “young” Saudi Arabia in its new era. By monitoring the recent sporting events and analyzing the actions and reactions, Saudi sports has proven to be one of the kingdom’s most important sources of soft power, alongside other sources. Day by day, the kingdom affirms its confident and ambitious progress, guided by a wise policy that commands respect and appreciation from everyone.
In recent years, Saudi sports has achieved great success, adding important qualitative additions to the “mental image” of the Saudi persona. It has earned admiration and appreciation beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic experts, observers, and stakeholders in activating soft power tools and monitoring their interactions.
Within the continuous rise of the kingdom’s name and its presence in all fields of international sports, spreading across the “map” of global sports events and competitions, observers noticed how the name of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia dominated the “front pages” of major international newspapers in October 2021. The kingdom’s name represented an “attractive force” to everyone interacting with social media, dominating global search engines, websites, and social networking platforms. This follows the announcement by the Public Investment Fund of the famous “Newcastle United takeover deal” in northern England.
Furthermore, it was observed, as noted by global media outlets, particularly widely spread television channels, that significant airtime was dedicated to sports programs with high viewership, discussing the dimensions, implications, investment returns, and the position of the kingdom’s sports ascent. It highlighted the impact on the kingdom’s position and “mental image” in the global sports arena.
In addition, famous sports programs in the global media showcased the beginnings and stages of the kingdom’s sports rise in recent years, as well as the significant and consecutive leaps of Saudi competition, leading to participation in major international competitions. This includes competition for top positions in many international competitions and tournaments. It presents a new “mental image” and a model for the Saudi persona and citizen on the international stage. This image and model confirm the success achieved and being achieved by the kingdom in all areas: economically, socially, culturally, artistically, literarily, and in sports. This is in addition to the achievements witnessed by Saudi Arabia and the world on its soil in various fields, especially in education, economy, health, tourism, agriculture, culture, and other areas of economic and social development in the kingdom.
There is no disagreement that the support given to Saudi sports in recent years serves to support the national economy and improve the image of the “young and new” Saudi Arabia in the eyes of the world, which has become passionate about following developments in the kingdom across all fields.
The Saudi direction in the global sports arena is not limited to achieving goals related to external image, but it also responds to an internal will that seeks to build and develop athletes capable of competing at the international level, which is clearly part of the vision.
The support and attention that the sports sector receives in our country today will undoubtedly contribute to the development of all components of the sports sector, including media and television broadcasting, event management, and the development of human capital in regional and international committees and federations, under the presence of a “young, qualified, and passionate” sports administration that enjoys unlimited support from the Saudi leadership.
In conclusion, it can be said that the documentary book of the national initiative “Our Card, Our Culture” has succeeded in achieving many goals to promote sports practice and invest in sports to spread the message of love and peace. The “Our Card, Our Culture” initiative is an important initiative that seeks to promote values of peaceful coexistence among youth and enhance cultural awareness. It is applicable at all times and places and is directed to all segments of society.
The fact that this book won the International Peace Book Award is the greatest evidence that this book has reached international recognition through the media coverage it received. It has been a source of inspiration for sports journalists for over a year since its launch until the final whistle
