Saudi's Neom Replaced By Almaty As 2029 Asian Winter Games Hosts

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The 2029 Asian Winter Games will take place in the Kazakh city of Almaty, replacing Neom in Saudi Arabia as hosts, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced on Thursday.

The event had been due to be held in Neom but it was postponed last month after Riyadh appeared to stall on delivery of the ski resort in the showpiece mega-project and had discussed staging the event four years later than planned.

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"I would like to thank the Kazakhstan government and the city of Almaty for their commitment to the development of winter sports in Asia," OCA president Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani said at the contract signing ceremony in Milan on the eve of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"Almaty is a city with deep connections to winter sports and we have very fond memories of when we last hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011," he added.

"We are grateful for your ongoing partnership and we have no doubt we'll build on this legacy and host an unforgettable games in 2029."

In 2011, Kazakhstan hosted the event in Almaty and in its capital Astana.

Almaty was also an unsuccessful candidate to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, losing out to Beijing.

Saudi Arabia was to have hosted the Games in Trojena, planned as a year-round ski resort in the mountains of Neom, a $500 billion project to construct a new city in the country's western desert on the Red Sea.

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