Riyadh’s 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games: What to Expect from the Multi-Nation Event

1. Introduction

The 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh are set to become one of the most significant multi-sport gatherings in the Muslim world this decade. According to the event overview published by the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA) , the sixth edition of the Games will take place from 7 to 21 November 2025 in the Saudi capital.

The event is expected to bring together around 3,000 athletes from 57 countries, competing in more than 250 medal events across a mix of Olympic and non-Olympic sports. These figures are broadly consistent with the latest breakdown of nations, sports and events summarised on the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games page .

The Games run under the broader political umbrella of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) , a 57-member intergovernmental organisation spanning Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. For many national Olympic committees, Riyadh 2025 provides a key benchmark on the road to continental championships and the Olympic cycle, especially in sports where access to top-tier competition is limited by ranking points or budget.

For Saudi Arabia, the Games are part of a deliberate strategy to use major sports events as a lever for economic diversification and international visibility. Recent hosting commitments in boxing, motorsport and football have already raised the country’s global profile. The Islamic Solidarity Games add a multi-sport dimension on home soil, framed by the official Saudi tourism portal VisitSaudi as a combination of elite competition and cultural showcase.

This preview examines the foundations of Riyadh 2025: the host city and venue concept, the participating nations and athletes, the sports programme and schedule highlights, and the wider economic and diplomatic context. It concludes with an early look at medal prospects and storylines to follow as teams finalise their squads in the build-up to the opening ceremony.

2. Event overview

2.1 Host city Riyadh

Riyadh, the political and administrative capital of Saudi Arabia, returns as host city for the Islamic Solidarity Games two decades after the first edition in 2005 was staged across several Saudi venues. ISSA confirms that the 2025 Games will again be centred on Riyadh, which now positions itself as a year-round destination for major sports events and entertainment.

The city’s role as host is closely tied to the country’s broader investment drive under Vision 2030 . Large-scale projects have expanded hotel capacity, transport networks and public-space infrastructure, making it easier to stage multi-venue tournaments. In interviews with international media, ISSA officials have repeatedly described Riyadh as a “natural hub” for bringing together athletes from all four OIC continents.

For visiting delegations, the main advantage of Riyadh is logistical. The city’s international airport offers direct or one-stop connections from most OIC member states, and the concentration of arenas within a relatively compact urban footprint reduces travel times between competition sites. This is reflected in the Games’ venue plan, which clusters most facilities into distinct sport zones rather than spreading them across the wider country.

2.2 Venues and facilities

The official venue concept, outlined by ISSA and the local organising committee, relies on a mix of existing stadiums and newly adapted sites. The aim is to minimise new construction while using the Games to test-run facilities that will also serve future events. Key competition clusters are planned around central Riyadh and major sports complexes.

• Olympic Complex (Green Hall and adjacent venues) – A core hub for indoor sports such as handball, volleyball and combat sports. The Green Hall is already confirmed as host of the handball competition according to the handball event summary .
• Boulevard-area arenas – Multipurpose halls and outdoor courts near Riyadh’s entertainment district, slated to stage volleyball, 3×3 basketball and parts of the combat-sports schedule. These venues are designed to integrate fan zones, live-music stages and food courts into the sports experience.
• Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium and athletics facilities – Traditional track-and-field competitions and selected opening-ceremony elements are expected to use the main football stadium and adjacent warm-up tracks within the wider Olympic Complex.
• Specialised sites for new sports – Events such as triathlon and duathlon are allocated to purpose-built or adapted sites like Sands Sports Park, which appears on the World Triathlon event listing for Riyadh 2025.

Beyond the competition arenas, the Games will feature an Athletes’ Village concept and a dedicated media centre. ISSA communication indicates that this will be the first time an Islamic Solidarity Games edition uses a full village model similar to the Olympics, with residential, medical and recreational services in one secure zone. This approach is designed to tighten security, reduce travel fatigue and strengthen the Games’ identity as a single multi-sport festival.

Infrastructure testing has been underway through test events and site visits. A Chefs-de-Mission seminar held in Riyadh provided national delegations with detailed briefings on accommodation, transport and competition schedules, underlining the organisers’ intention to present Riyadh 2025 as a template for future multi-sport events in the region.

3. Participating nations and athletes

Riyadh 2025 is open to all 57 member countries of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA) . ISSA describes the event as a platform to “unite athletes from the Association’s 57 member countries” and to showcase their stories to a global audience. In practice, more than 50 delegations are expected to send athletes, with some smaller national Olympic committees focusing on a limited number of sports.

Early communication from national federations suggests that large teams will travel from Saudi Arabia, Türkiye, Iran, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Morocco, all of which ranked highly in the medal table at the previous Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya. Host nation Saudi Arabia is expected to use home advantage to field broad squads in athletics, combat sports and team ball games, while other countries may concentrate on their traditional strengths such as wrestling, weightlifting or futsal.

The official Riyadh 2025 website isg-2025.com lists 21 sports and 2 para-sports on the programme, which will shape how many athletes each country enters. As final accreditation numbers are confirmed closer to the opening ceremony, the expectation is that the total athlete count will exceed 3,000 competitors.

3.1 Star competitors to watch

At the time of writing, most national Olympic committees have not yet released full athlete lists for Riyadh 2025, but several countries have outlined the scale of their delegations. Turkish media, for example, report that Türkiye plans to send more than 200 athletes across around 20 sports, underlining its status as one of the dominant forces at the previous Games.

Based on recent continental championships and the Konya 2021 results, observers expect strong medal challenges from:

• Türkiye – traditionally powerful in wrestling, taekwondo, athletics and team sports, and the leading nation in the most recent medal table.
• Uzbekistan – deep talent pool in boxing, wrestling and judo, with several world and Asian champions likely to use Riyadh 2025 as a key competition block.
• Iran – consistently strong in combat sports and weightlifting, and increasingly competitive in futsal and team ball sports.
• Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan – balanced delegations across combat sports and athletics, with podium potential in multiple weight classes.
• Saudi Arabia – host nation momentum, especially in athletics, team sports and newer disciplines that have received domestic investment under Vision 2030.
• Indonesia and Morocco – emerging multi-sport contenders with notable recent progress in athletics, combat sports and indoor team events.

For many athletes, Riyadh 2025 will function as a bridge between regional championships and the next Olympic cycle. National federations that are already qualified for world-level competitions may use the Games to test younger athletes in a high-pressure environment, while others will focus on consolidating experienced squads and targeting specific medal opportunities.

3.2 Emerging talents

One of the distinctive features of the Islamic Solidarity Games is the mix of established stars and relatively unknown athletes who rarely appear on global broadcast platforms. Federations with limited resources often nominate promising under-23 competitors who sit just below the threshold for senior world championships or the Olympic Games.

In this context, analysts expect the emergence of:

• Junior and under-23 champions from continental events in Asia and Africa stepping into senior categories in athletics, swimming and combat sports.
• Women’s teams and individual athletes from countries where female participation in elite sport is rapidly expanding, including Saudi Arabia and several Gulf states.
• Para-athletes using the Games’ two para-sport disciplines as a pathway toward higher classification events and Paralympic qualification cycles.
• Esports competitors representing national federations in one of the newest disciplines on the programme, reflecting the broader digital shift in youth sport.

While precise names will only be confirmed in the official entry lists published by ISSA and the local organising committee, the pattern from previous editions suggests that Riyadh 2025 will reveal a new generation of athletes capable of stepping onto continental and world podiums within the next four-year cycle. From a scouting and talent-identification perspective, the Games are likely to be closely watched by coaches, agents and federations across the OIC membership.

4. Sports and schedule highlights

The sports programme for Riyadh 2025 is designed to combine classic Olympic disciplines with regionally popular sports and a handful of new additions. Information published by the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA), partner federations and the official Games site indicates that athletes will compete across more than 20 sports, including at least two para disciplines. Recent communications highlight the introduction of camel racing and esports alongside a strengthened combat-sports line-up.

While the full day-by-day schedule is still being finalised, several international federations have already confirmed their event windows inside the Games. This allows fans and media to identify the busiest medal days and the most competitive sports clusters.

4.1 Core competitions

The backbone of Riyadh 2025 consists of athletics, swimming, team ball sports and a broad combat-sports programme. Together, these disciplines are likely to generate the majority of medals and the strongest television demand. An overview of key sports, based on information from ISSA, partner federations and recent previews, is set out below.

Official documents shared between ISSA and partner federations confirm that each sport comes with its own qualification pathway and athlete-quota system. For example, the allocation system for boxing published jointly by ISSA and World Boxing details weight categories, qualification criteria and maximum entries per country, underlining the Games’ role as a structured multi-sport event rather than an invitation-only festival.

Historically, multi-sport events concentrate preliminaries and qualification rounds in the first third of the schedule, with medal density peaking in the middle and tail end of the Games. Riyadh 2025 is expected to follow a similar pattern, especially in athletics and swimming, where finals are often grouped into evening sessions over several consecutive days.

4.2 Cultural and side events

Beyond the competition schedule, organisers emphasise the Games’ cultural and social dimension. The official Saudi tourism portal VisitSaudi promotes Riyadh 2025 as an opportunity for visitors to explore local heritage, food and music alongside live sport. Fan experiences around key venues are expected to include open-air screenings, concerts and family-oriented activities.

Several venue clusters, especially in and around the Boulevard district, are configured as mixed-use spaces where sport, retail and entertainment overlap. This model mirrors recent global trends at events such as the Olympics and football World Cups, where organisers aim to create festival environments that extend beyond ticketed arenas.

• Fan zones with live screens, commentary in Arabic and English, and interactive sponsor activations.
• Cultural showcases featuring traditional Saudi music, dance and crafts, positioned near major competition sites to encourage cross-over between spectators and local artists.
• Food courts combining Saudi cuisine with dishes from visiting nations, reflecting the Games’ “unity in diversity” messaging.
• Educational activities highlighting themes such as fair play, anti-doping and women’s participation in sport, supported by ISSA partners and international federations.
• Side events in central Riyadh, including guided city tours promoted through ticketing partners and accommodation platforms to extend visitor stays.

For the host city, these side events are more than entertainment. They are a practical way to distribute visitors across different districts, stimulate local businesses and showcase Riyadh as a year-round tourism destination. For athletes, the cultural programme also offers structured breaks from competition, with village-based events and controlled excursions designed to protect performance while still exposing delegations to local life.

5. Economic and diplomatic impact

The Islamic Solidarity Games have always carried a political dimension. For Saudi Arabia, hosting the 2025 edition is both an investment in sports diplomacy and a test of its ability to convert event infrastructure into long-term economic value. Reports from the Ministry of Finance and the Vision 2030 programme identify sport as a growth sector capable of contributing up to 1.5 % of GDP by the end of the decade.

The Games are expected to draw tens of thousands of visitors to Riyadh, with immediate effects on the hospitality, transport and retail sectors. The Saudi Tourism Authority highlights the event as part of a winter calendar designed to maintain hotel occupancy above 70 % year-round. Local business groups anticipate an influx of sponsorship and event-related contracts for catering, logistics and media production.

Diplomatically, Riyadh 2025 reinforces Saudi Arabia’s position within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation. By hosting an inclusive, high-visibility multi-sport event, the Kingdom strengthens ties with African and Asian members that view the Games as an equitable alternative to Western-dominated competitions. Officials from several OIC nations have publicly stated that such events help balance representation in global sport and highlight Islamic cultural identity in a positive context.

The economic effects are not confined to visitor spending. Major infrastructure upgrades — including digital ticketing systems, media hubs and temporary venues — are designed for reuse in future events. Independent analysis by Consultancy-ME and technology firm Elm indicates that a majority of new Saudi sports facilities are being designed as multi-use, smart and sustainable venues. Their post-event utilisation models emphasise domestic league scheduling, youth-sport programmes and future continental tournaments — ensuring that the Islamic Solidarity Games infrastructure remains active well beyond 2025.

6. Saudi Arabia’s Sports Vision 2030 context

Vision 2030, launched in 2016, aims to diversify the Saudi economy and expand cultural and recreational opportunities. Sport functions as both a soft-power instrument and a domestic well-being strategy. The Ministry of Sport has increased its annual budget more than five-fold since 2018 and uses mega-events such as the Islamic Solidarity Games to accelerate facility development and workforce training.

The Riyadh 2025 organising framework aligns with Vision 2030’s key goals:

• Economic diversification: expanding the event economy, sponsorship and tourism income.
• Human capital: developing sports-management expertise through international partnerships.
• Female participation: embedding equal access in national teams and encouraging grassroots sport for women.
• Global image: positioning Saudi Arabia as a stable, capable host of complex multi-sport events.

Riyadh 2025 also serves as a precursor to other planned events, including future world championships and continental tournaments. By delivering a technically smooth Games with strong international participation, organisers hope to demonstrate readiness for larger bids within the 2030 timeline.

7. Predictions and early medal outlook

While official entry lists are still under validation by the Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA), existing performance trends allow a reasonable projection of likely medal contenders. The 2022 Konya edition established a competitive hierarchy that remains largely relevant heading into Riyadh 2025.

Host-nation advantage typically yields a measurable performance bump of 5–10 % in medal totals. Saudi Arabia’s recent focus on high-performance training centres and international coaching exchanges suggests that the Kingdom could reach its first-ever double-digit gold-medal haul at these Games.

Women’s events are another area where the medal table may shift. As female participation continues to expand across the Gulf states, expect new champions in athletics, taekwondo and swimming—disciplines where investment in women’s sport has increased markedly since 2020.

Analysts also note that esports, camel racing and other new events could deliver surprise results because historical data are limited. Smaller delegations with niche expertise may claim unexpected podiums, further diversifying the final medal distribution.

8. Conclusion and outlook

With less than a year to go, the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games are taking shape as a flagship event for Saudi Arabia’s growing sports industry and for the broader community of OIC nations. The combination of large-scale participation, upgraded infrastructure and cultural programming positions Riyadh 2025 as both a sporting milestone and a diplomatic statement.

If organisational milestones continue on schedule, the Games will deliver a valuable proof of concept: that major multi-sport tournaments can operate efficiently across climates, languages and political systems while promoting shared values of fair play and unity. For athletes, the event offers exposure and experience; for fans, it provides a rare opportunity to see diverse nations compete under one banner.

The true legacy of Riyadh 2025 will depend on post-Games integration—how facilities, volunteer networks and technical expertise are retained within the national system. ISSA and the Ministry of Sport have already announced plans for legacy training academies to ensure knowledge transfer beyond the closing ceremony.

As the opening ceremony approaches, attention will focus on whether Saudi Arabia can combine logistical precision with a meaningful celebration of Islamic unity through sport. On current evidence, Riyadh 2025 has the resources and ambition to meet that expectation.

9. Frequently Asked Questions