The Saudis are trying to take over the world water sports competition.
As reported by The Guardian, a Saudi government document released by the US Department of State last week reveals that Saudi Arabia has been working with other countries in an effort to create a unified “water sports” league.
The document, dated May 6, 2013, describes a “sport union” to be created by Saudi Arabia.
The “sporting union” is to “form a collective association that would include, among other sports, the water sports” (as opposed to the international body of nations, such as the International Olympic Committee, which currently exists only as a subsidiary of the IOC).
In a press release, the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Tourism Development, also known as the “MSSD” (which stands for the Saudi Sports Union), said the “sensationalized competition will not only help develop sport in Saudi Arabia, but will also benefit all sports around the world.”
“Sporting will not just be a sport in this country, it will also become a global sport,” it added.
In an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, the official in charge of Saudi Arabian water sports, Khaled Al-Attiyah, also spoke about the “water league.”
“We will develop a federation in Saudi,” he said.
“There will be competitions, and it will be the world champion, and the world championship.”
But in a way, it could be even more problematic than the proposed Saudi-dominated “water leagues.”
As the Associated Press noted, the United States already has an international governing body for the sport of swimming.
This isn’t the first time the Saudis have tried to dominate water sports.
In 2009, the kingdom tried to create its own federation.
The proposed federation was “to be run by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” and was “focused on the protection of the environment, promoting economic growth, and preserving and protecting human rights,” according to the Associated Post.
But after months of lobbying, the US did not approve the “new” federation.
In response to the news, Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports Development said that the “Saudi Sports Union” will “develop a sporting union” and “to organize competitions in accordance with the sport regulations and regulations of the Federation.”
However, the proposed federation “does not mean the Kingdom will control water sports.”
According to Al-Mansur, the government document “is aimed at promoting the development of sport in the country, which includes the development and promotion of the sport as a national sport.”
The Kingdom of Arabia is already well-known for its efforts to dominate the international water sports scene.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Saudi sports officials “attacked the IOC, the world governing body that oversees all Olympic events, in a bid to take control of international sports.”
The kingdom “took over the IOC’s governing body, and its president, Thomas Bach, was removed from his post by the IOC last year.”
Saudi officials have also “tried to block a new Olympic pool, which is designed to provide a safe environment for athletes to compete, according to an Associated Press report.
It is expected to cost about $4 billion to construct.
Saudi Arabian officials also “have launched a campaign to convince the world that they are the world’s top water sport.”
In fact, according an Associated News report, the Kingdom “targets other sports to be part of the unified international water league, including canoeing, diving, rowing and other sports.”
The Saudi government has also been trying to “take over” the international sports world for decades.
As the New York Times reported, “The kingdom is the world leader in the use of a variety of sports, including swimming, tennis, golf and boxing.
Its sport is also highly popular with Western tourists and other countries.
“The Kingdom’s efforts to “overthrow” the IOC have included using “adversarial legal processes to keep the sport away from international federations, a campaign called “Take Back the Olympics” and a campaign that is “pushing” for the “International Olympic Committee to withdraw from international competition.”
While Saudi Arabia “has long been one of the world leaders in water sports,” the kingdom “has recently been losing ground to the U.S. and other western nations.”
In 2009, Saudi officials were “dismissing suggestions from international sports experts that the kingdom would take control” of the global water sports industry.
According the Wall Street Times, Saudi Minister of Sports Mohammad al-Moussa said the kingdom’s “satellite sports” “have a large number of people that play them in their home countries.”
In 2014, a government report concluded that “it was necessary for the kingdom to expand its sports network in order to become a leader in sports
