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  • Women camel jockeys race in Saudi Arabia, breaking a social barrier

    Welcome to the Crown Prince Camel Festival, an event that has been dubbed the Grand Prix of camel racing, where camels race some 250 laps for prizes worth US$13 million. This camel festival, held in honour of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is now in its sixth year and is on par with the richest horse races worldwide. It has come to be recognised as a serious international sport and a great tourist attraction in several Middle Eastern countries. This year, some 21,000 camels are taking part.

  • Women footballers call on FIFA to end partnership with Saudi Aramco

    A group of over 100 professional women's soccer players on Monday sent an open letter to FIFA urging the world governing body to end its partnership with oil and gas conglomerate Saudi Aramco. In April, FIFA signed a four-year deal which will see Aramco become a worldwide partner, including in major tournaments such as the 2026 World Cup and the Women's World Cup the following year. Saudi Arabia has invested heavily in sports like soccer, Formula One and golf in the last few years while critics, including women's rights groups and members of the LGBTQ community, accuse the kingdom of using its Public Investment Fund (PIF) to "sportswash" its human rights record.

  • Fifa urged by women’s soccer players to scrap sponsorship with Saudi oil company Aramco

    More than 100 professional women’s soccer players have signed an open letter to Fifa urging the global governing body to end its sponsorship with Saudi oil giant Aramco. Fifa confirmed a deal with Aramco, which is majority-owned by the Saudi government, in April. The company will sponsor both the 2026 men’s World Cup and 2027 Women’s World Cup in an agreement reportedly worth up to US$100 million a year.

  • Fifa urged by women’s soccer players to scrap sponsorship with Saudi oil company Aramco

    More than 100 professional women’s soccer players have signed an open letter to Fifa urging the global governing body to end its sponsorship with Saudi oil giant Aramco. Fifa confirmed a deal with Aramco, which is majority-owned by the Saudi government, in April. The company will sponsor both the 2026 men’s World Cup and 2027 Women’s World Cup in an agreement reportedly worth up to US$100 million a year.

  • Saudi Arabia and Beyond: Meet the Women Leaders in the World of Sailing

    With five America’s Cups under her belt and over 25 years of experience, Ryan has traveled far and wide to various race locations, including Saudi Arabia in November 2023. The venue for the America’s Cup Preliminary Regatta was the Jeddah Yacht Club – notably the only event ever to be hosted outside of Barcelona in this series of the America’s Cup. “I really wanted to spread the reality of what I saw in Saudi Arabia. A lot of people said to me, ‘How did you feel as a female event director running an event in Jeddah; was that challenging?’ I said, ‘Not in the slightest.’ There were many women involved in the Saudi Federation and organizations, and I never once felt any difficulty or challenge being a woman running professional events on this scale. And I wanted more people to realize that.”

  • Why Saudi Arabia’s first women’s world title fight matters

    Saudi Arabia has played host to some of the biggest boxing events over the past 12 months, and on Saturday – for the first time – the Kingdom will host a women's world title fight. Australia's Skye Nicolson will defend her WBC featherweight title against Briton Raven Chapman, on the undercard of Artur Beterbiev v Dmitry Bivol, in Riyadh. "This is a much-needed and big shot in the arm for women's boxing as it joins the Riyadh Season train which is moving to a greater destination for boxing," promoter Eddie Hearn tells BBC Sport.

  • Saudi Arabia: Women’s fashion projected to become $53bn market by 2030

    Rising female workforce participation, coupled with increasing westernisation of clothing, besides rising social media influence and mushrooming of online shopping platforms are the driving forces for the unprecedented growth in the fashion wear segment in Saudi Arabia, the research by global advisory firm RedSeer said.

  • Mastercard and Saudia Partner to Empower Women Entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia with ‘Her Voice’

    This season, Mastercard and Saudia will be putting inspiration into action by partnering with Blossom Accelerator, Saudi Arabia's first tech-inclusion and female-focused accelerator, to host three workshops — in Jeddah, Riyadh, and Khobar — providing budding female entrepreneurs, aspiring leaders, and small business owners access to all-important learning and networking opportunities.

  • Empowered but afraid: do Saudi women have the capability to freely decide their university majors?

    Results revealed that new legislation and regulations in Saudi Arabia have positively influenced sociocultural transformation. However, in small cities and nonurban settings, women may struggle to reject traditional social norms despite their empowerment. The findings indicate that encouraging students’ voluntary work and their membership in groups and organisations, as well as ensuring diverse hiring practices are in place in rural areas and small cities, could support a more general acceptance of women’s empowerment.

  • Taekwondo-Abutaleb falls short of medal but breaks new ground for Saudi women

    Saudi Arabia's taekwondo athlete Dunya Abutaleb failed to win a medal at the Paris Games on Wednesday but broke new ground for women in her country as she just missed out on bronze. The 27-year-old, who came third at the 2022 World Championships in the flyweight (-49 kg) category, is the first Saudi woman to earn direct qualification to the Olympics.