Organisers of the Islamic Solidarity Games, a quadrennial event with 57 nations competing in multiple sports, have left the door open for British athletes to take part in future saying such a prospect would be “interesting to see”.
The latest edition of the Games is set to take place in Riyadh this November, and under the Saudi sports minister as president of governing body the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA), there is a desire to grow its international audience, which could involve inviting new countries to take part.
“It would be great quality sports. It would be interesting to see,” said Nasser Majali, secretary general of ISSA, who was speaking in London on Wednesday. “It depends on the appetite, it depends on what we are able to do based on sustainability. But having good quality sports competitions is always welcome.”
Access to this year’s games is limited to the 57 countries that make up ISSA who, in turn, are members of political grouping the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation. ISSA includes countries from four continents and states with religiously diverse populations. Current members include Albania, Nigeria and the Caribbean state of Guyana, where muslims make up roughly 7% of the population, comparable to the 6.5% of population in England and Wales.
Majali observed that athletes at the Games could themselves belong to any religion or none. “The first Jordanian to win a gold medal at the 2017 games was a Christian, a spectacular swimmer,” he said. Majali added that while it was “currently” the case that the games were open only to ISSA members, “you don’t know how [participation] can be done in the future”.
The Solidarity Games will be the first significant staging post on Saudi Arabia’s journey towards the 2034 World Cup and a possible Olympic bid. It will once again put an international spotlight on the Saudi capital of Riyadh, increasingly a magnet for major sporting events. The Games will see an athletes village built in the country for the first time and could feature events held outside stadia and in public spaces, as at the Paris Olympics last year.
Majali, a former secretary general of the Jordanian Olympic Committee, said that the Saudi capital is now a “major” sporting destination. “You’ve got excellent quality competitions happening all the time there,” he said. “It’s become second nature to deliver such events and the quality is spectacular. From my point of view, it is a destination for sports events. And a major one at that.”