Sport in Saudi Arabia: Joshua fight joins list of major events

Juventus – thanks to a Cristiano Ronaldo goal – beat AC Milan in Jeddah in January 2019, before they lost 3-1 to Lazio in Riyadh later that year.

Real Madrid have won two Spanish Super Cups in Jeddah, the first in 2020 when they beat Atletico and again this year with victory over Athletic Bilbao.

Golf

Established in 2019, the Saudi International became the first European Tour event to be played in the country. Rory McIlroy ruled out competing at the 2020 tournament, confirming there was “a morality” behind his decision.

Fellow Northern Irishman Graeme McDowell went on to win the event, while American Dustin Johnson won the inaugural staging and added another title in 2021.

The controversial LIV Golf Series, bankrolled by Saudi Arabian money, touches down in Jeddah in October as the penultimate round of the eight-event series.

Following that is the Aramco Team Series event in the city, which was spawned from the Saudi Ladies Team International in 2020.

Wrestling

The WWE has been holding events in Saudi Arabia since 2018. There have been seven visits there so far with a second this year scheduled for November.

Joshua’s fellow heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury has appeared at an event in Saudi Arabia before when he made his debut at the ‘Crown Jewel’ event in October 2019, where he beat Braun Strowman at the King Fahd International Stadium.

Horse racing

The world’s richest horse race is held in Saudi Arabia.

The 20million US dollars (£15.2million) Saudi Cup has been staged for the last three years at the King Abdulaziz Racetrack in Riyadh.

Motorsport

The last three editions of the Dakar Rally were held in Saudi Arabia and it is scheduled to return in 2023.

Carlos Sainz, father of Formula One driver Carlos Sainz Jr, won 2020’s car event, with two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso finishing 13th.

For the last four years Formula E has taken a race to the street circuit in Riyadh.

Snooker

October 2020 was scheduled to see Saudi Arabia host a ranking event for the first time, under a 10-year partnership deal with World Snooker.

But the inaugural Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Riyadh – which was set to have a total fund of £2.5million, including a top prize of £500,000 – was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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