The Saudi Minister of Sports, Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, valued the unprecedented support of the wise leadership for the youth and sports sectors, which resulted in hosting many international sporting events and achieving many successes in international forums.
This came during his participation in a dialogue session Entitled “Future Prospects” within the activities of the 2022 Budget Forum, With the participation of the Minister of Tourism Ahmed bin Aqeel Al-Khatib, and the Minister of Industry and Mineral Resources Bandar bin Ibrahim Al-Khorayef.
Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki said that our priorities in the Ministry of Sports focus on encouraging citizens and residents to practice sports, preparing talents and developing elite athletes, and strengthening the sports sector in developing the economy and hosting global and international events, and despite the challenges caused by the Corona pandemic, we were able to support our leadership achieve a number Among the achievements and targets that aspire to the growth of the sports sector, foremost among them is the continuation of hosting international events, launching the Mahd Academy, achieving many regional and international achievements, launching the strategy to support federations and the pride program for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, as well as launching the football strategy, and launching the Nafes platform, which is the first platform Which provides as a model to enable the private sector to invest in the sports sector,” stressing that achieving this contributed to the growth of these goals through the growth of the sports sector’s contribution to the GDP from 2.4 billion riyals to 6.5 billion riyals within two years, an increase of 170 percent, in addition to establishing 17 investment companies for sports clubs and federations.
He explained that the total value of non-governmental revenues for the Prince Mohammed bin Salman Professional Cup League clubs during two years amounted to more than 1.8 billion riyals, and this year 2021 revenues amounted to more than 1.1 billion, after it was 747 million last year, indicating that 123 national companies participated in organizing The events that were held in 2021, and issued more than 1904 licenses for gyms and sports centers, which contributed to the provision of more than 20,000 direct jobs and 60,000 indirect jobs in the sports sector.
He stressed that the number of players registered in clubs and federations amounted to more than 127,000 players, an increase of 29% over previous years, and the dues of the private sector were paid to the sports sector in full for the previous years, with a total of 316 million riyals, with the participation of the Committee for the Payment of Financial Dues to the Private Sector.
He revealed that the Ministry of Sports will work in 2022 to launch the National Sports Strategy, by hosting at least 15 global events, and raising the sports sector’s contribution to non-oil GDP to more than 1.2 percent by 2030.
He addressed raising the private sector’s contribution to the sports sector from 15% to 30% by 2030, and in the Navas platform, it aims to reach 2045 licenses for gyms, centers, academies and sports clubs during 2022, and increase the number of direct jobs from 20,000 jobs to 100,000 jobs by 2030. Reaching more than 1.7 million talented males and females in 21 sports until 2025 through the Mahd Academy, qualifying 180 male and female players in 14 games through the Elite Sports Program.
With regard to the role of women in the sports sector, he stressed that the ministry seeks to increase the number of female players from 4,800 today to 8,000 in 2022, and to increase the number of women’s teams from 25 to 35 teams in a number of different games.
