Neom's Asian Winter Games postponed indefinitely

The Olympic Council of Asia has "confirmed the postponement of the 2029 edition" of the winter games, which were set to be hosted at the unbuilt Trojena ski resort in Neom, Saudi Arabia.

Earlier this week, the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee jointly announced that the 2029 Asian Winter Games will be postponed for an unspecified period of time.

"The Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the Olympic Council of Asia have agreed on an updated framework for future hosting of the Asian Winter Games, confirming the postponement of the 2029 edition to a later date to be announced in due course," said the organisations in a statement.

No official reason was given for the delay, and it is unclear if the event will still be hosted at Trojena but at a later date, or if an alternative host will be sought for the 2029 event.

Saudi Arabia announced that the Trojena ski resort, which is under construction in the mountainous Tabuk region in the northwest of the country, would host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in 2022.

Masterplanned by German architecture studio LAVA, the resort will be arranged around a giant artificial lake and contain buildings designed by UNStudio, Zaha Hadid Architects, and Aedas.

The project was planned to be completed this year, but has reportedly faced construction delays with a completion date now unclear.

Last year, news agency Reuters reported that OCA was looking for alternative hosts for the event and had formally contacted the Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) to sound out the idea of the country hosting the event.

Trojena is one of the key elements of the Neom mega project, which will also reportedly consist of a 170-kilometre-long city called The Line, a port city designed by BIG and numerous hotels on the Red Sea.

It is the largest and most high-profile of 14 gigaprojects being developed in Saudi Arabia as part of the Saudi Vision 2030 plan to shift the country's economy away from a reliance on oil.

It has been criticised widely on human rights and sustainability grounds, and last year, Dezeen asked if it was time for architecture studios to walk away from the project in the face of mounting pressure from campaigners.

Neom is undertaking a broad review and is reportedly "considering significantly cutting its workforce".

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