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Sportshour: Can Saudi Arabia become the home of live sport?

Discussion & Talk

Can Saudi Arabia Become the Home of Live Sport?

07/12/2019 GMT

Can Saudi Arabia become the home of live sport?

BBC World Service - Sportshour, Can Saudi Arabia become the home of live sport?

Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr is the highest profile Boxing fight to be held in Saudi.

Saturday sees the much anticipated heavyweight title rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr in Diriyah, Saudi Arabia, it's being billed as the Clash on the Dunes. Ruiz became the first heavyweight champion in boxing history of Mexican descent when he caused one of the greatest upsets by beating Joshua in New York. Eight months on, the British superstar looks to regain his WBA, IBF and WBO titles in what is being described as a career defining fight for Joshua. The actual location of the fight has attracted criticism from Human Rights Groups, we hear the concerns from Amnesty International on why sporting athletes should be aware of the country’s poor human rights record. However, the Saudi Sports Minister has outlined his vision to make Saudi Arabia the home of live sport with many other high profile events being staged in that part of the world and how they are making progress to their poor record. We’ll also be live in Saudi Arabia with our reporter Ade Adedoyin.

It's not every week we get to speak to a Winter Olympian and an actor - This week, Gus Kenworthy has confirmed he will switch his allegiance from USA to Great Britain at the 2022 Beijing Games - in what will most likely be his final Winter Olympics before he retires.
The silver medallist Freestyle skier was born in the UK but moved to the States when he was two years old. If you're a fan of the Netflix programme American Horror Story, you would have seen Gus appear in the show and as you will hear, he is keen to pursue a career in acting post Skiing. The 28 year old also became a key figure in the LGBT community when his then boyfriend Matthew Wilkas kissed Kenworthy before his qualifying run at the 2018 Winter Games - the kiss was broadcast live on television and he was lauded as being a significant moment in visibility of LGBT athlete movement.

In 2017, Carl Ikeme was at the top of his career, he was close to promotion to the Premier League with Wolves and was playing international football with Nigeria. Off the pitch, his wife was pregnant with his second child but life took an unexpected turn. Ikeme was diagnosed with blood cancer. It forced him to retire from football but two years on, he's now in full remission. He told Caroline Barker this week, how he remained positive in the face of adversity and why the simple things in life mean so much more to him.

We’ll be live at the UK Snooker Championship in York - this year has seen Morocco's Amine Amiri who's making his first appearance on tour, where he faced the World Number One Judd Trump in the opening round. Despite losing heavily, there are still plenty of reasons to smile for Amine and his fiancée. They won gold in Snooker at the recent African Games and he's hoping his success will make the sport popular in Morocco. Amine has been telling our reporter Shabnam Younus Jewell how he taught his girlfriend to play and how their love developed on the baize.

Picture - Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz (Credit - Getty Images).

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