Saudi Arabia’s soft power play through sports tourism and “sportswashing”

This paper investigates how the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia employs sports tourism as a tool of soft power, connecting it with the nation’s proposal of Vision 2030, an ambitious national development plan targeted to economic diversification, infrastructural urbanisation, and changing global perceptions of the nation. Using qualitative analysis of policy documents, media discourse, and an exclusive interview from the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA), this research explores how sports, especially football, are leveraged not only for entertainment and economic initiatives, but also as mechanisms of cultural diplomacy, nation branding, and geopolitical influence. Grounded in the ‘Push-Pull’ theory of tourism motivation, the study interprets how internal domestic ambitions (‘push’ factors) align with external attractions and sporting events (‘pull’ factors) to construct Saudi Arabia’s appeal as a sports tourism destination. The paper argues that by branding itself as a global hub for elite sport, Saudi Arabia is cultivating a modernised identity designed to enhance both regional leadership and international soft power. The study acknowledges enduring critiques of ‘sportswashing’, noting that the effectiveness of these strategies depends on whether sporting investments generate genuine structural change or are perceived as image-management efforts. The analysis evaluates the long-term capacity of sports tourism to shift entrenched global narratives, particularly in political contexts where international scrutiny remains high. This research contributes to broader debates on sport and statecraft by demonstrating that Saudi Arabia’s sports tourism strategy represents a calculated effort to wield soft power in an increasingly interconnected, image-conscious world.