Gulf sports wins are sidelined by the summer season

Michael Potts/Alamy via Reuters

This summer has been packed with exciting sports events, at least in the northern hemisphere.

The UK-based World Snooker Championship got things started, followed by Olympic successes in Paris. Football’s Copa America and UEFA Euros have been staged in the US and Germany, respectively. Formula 1 is now in its mid-season sojourn to Europe.

Yet across the Gulf, sports announcements have been few and far between, especially when compared to previous years. 

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Unlike the three previous Olympic summers, Qatari high-jumper Mutaz Barshim failed to bag either a gold or silver medal. However, Barshim’s bronze win still eclipsed the total medal haul of the UAE, Kuwait, Oman, and Saudi Arabia combined.

At least Bahrain did well, securing two golds, one silver and one bronze – despite being slapped with restrictions for previous ‘serious anti-doping rule violations’.

Elsewhere, football announcements across the region have been muted. Qatar’s staging of the Fifa World Cup seems confined to the history books, while Saudi Arabia’s 2023 penchant for big-name football signings appears to have dissipated. 

It is some consolation that Formula 1 was staged in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia earlier in the year, with its Qatar and Abu Dhabi races still to come in 2024.

Too hot to handle?

One reason why affairs in the Gulf sport industry have quietened down in the summer is climatic conditions. Playing competitive sport outdoors between June and August is near impossible, hence things either stop or move indoors. This is one of the reasons why Saudi Arabia saw success with its Esports World Cup in July – the indoor event attracted two million sport tourists to the kingdom.

Saudi officials were in Paris during the Olympics to deliver their country’s bid to stage the 2034 Fifa World Cup. The kingdom is the only official bidder for the event but the winner will be formally announced in December.

Should Saudi Arabia host the World Cup, questions will inevitably be raised about when the matches should be hosted; as with Qatar, it will be too hot to stage desert-based football in the northern hemisphere’s summer months.

Western domination

One persistent challenge faced by the Gulf is the battle to unseat global sport’s existing hegemony. The Global North continues to dominate sports through its European and North American institutions. 

Until such a time as Gulf administrators and investors can secure more prominent positions inside Western sport organisations, the region’s summer lull will continue to be a major issue for the longer-term development of its sport ecosystems.

While sports are desperate for new investment flows, financiers are reticent about committing to a sector that lacks a strong track record

European media outlets have been questioning why last year’s sizzling football transfer activity in Saudi Arabia’s Super League has not been replicated this summer. Indeed, many are speculating that the bubble has burst. However, it’s important to note that the global football player market has been generally more subdued of late. 

The sports investment world has been dampened by post-Covid financial jitters, the economic effects of Russia invading Ukraine, concerns about the conflict in Gaza, and electoral uncertainties in the US.

While many sports are desperate for new investment flows, financiers are naturally reticent about committing to a sector that lacks a strong track record of consistently delivering high rates of return.

Right now, many investors believe that high rates of interest being offered by financial institutions are a better bet than spending, say, on a football club that may never make a profit.

There are also worries about how to pay for pre-existing sports investments, which, in turn, is tempering future budgets.

A Bloomberg headline recently exclaimed World Cup Borrowing Binge Leaves Qatar’s Banks Grappling With Losses. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has taken to capital markets to shore up the country’s finances, while scaling back its mega-project and infrastructural ambitions.

With Kuwait and Oman also now believed to be evaluating their investments in sport, this leaves the region with some tough choices to make.

• Hosting the Olympics is set to be a marathon for Gulf bidders
• Marseille ticks boxes for Saudi’s next football foray
• Qatar faces tough rivals in fight for sporting dominance

There will be inevitable questions asked by all the Gulf countries about where they stand in a crowded global sports market. What do they do next? And how do they pay for it all?

While it’s unlikely that one barren summer will make or break the Gulf nations’ sports ambitions, these slow months should serve as a reminder that there is still work to be done. 

Put it this way, if Saudi Arabia is to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup, or Qatar to stage 2036’s Olympic Games, it will be on the shoulders of regional decision makers to ensure that what happens during the next decade actually lifts performances across the region’s sports.

Simon Chadwick is professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School in France