Sports

SOCCER

Football is undoubtedly the sport that has given the most prizes to the country. This is represented in Saudi Selection, four Gulf Cup titles, three Asian Cup and two Arab Nations Cups.

In 1992 the King Fahd Cup was created in the country. Today this is known as the Confederations Cup. In this tournament the champions from each football federation, as well as the host nation (Saudi Arabia) and the world champions compete against each other in two groups of four teams. Following the group games, two semi finals and a final are played to determine the champion. This cup was held on two occasions (1992 and 1995), as King Fahd Cup, and then as the Confederations Cup in 1997, also in Saudi Arabia.

GENERAL SPORTS

• The most popular sports are soccer, diving, windsurfing and sailing. Football is the most popular sport though with more than 150 official clubs. This is amongst the largest number of teams in the Middle East.
• Another very popular sport is camel racing. This happens at local cultural festivals and is considered a unique opportunity to encourage national unity.
• Despite some improvement women and girls are prohibited from practicing any type of sports exercises.
• Saudi Arabia has participated almost continuously in the summer Olympic Games since 1972 when they were held in the German city of Munich. The only exception was the summer Olympic Games of 1980 based in the Russian capital Moscow. Despite this the country just managed to win only a silver medal and two bronze medals from the summer Olympic Games in 2000 held in Sydney and the 2012 summer Olympics Games held in London.