Is Saudi Arabia's sports revolution unravelling?
Its huge spending has also extended to luring some of the world's biggest stars - including Cristiano Ronaldo - to its revamped domestic football league, and buying a majority stake in Premier League club Newcastle United. A sprawling collection of sports sponsorships cemented its burgeoning and disruptive influence over international sport , and a future Olympic bid felt like a formality. The country claimed that this was designed to help it to modernise and to diversify its economy by boosting tourism as part of the Crown Prince's Vision 2030 strategy, while inspiring its population to be more active.
Critics of its human rights record accused it of 'sportswashing' its reputation. The country's international standing was severely damaged by the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist who was a prominent critic of the government. It has also faced scrutiny over its use of the death penalty.
But whatever the motive, has Saudi Arabia's relationship with sport started to cool? In January, BBC Sport was told that towards the end of last year there was "a shift" in the kingdom's attitude towards some investments, with "everything in the PIF world under serious review". The change in the strategy - with an emphasis on more sustainable investments that would bring a return - came after a major budget deficit of $73bn last year, driven by increased spending and lower oil revenues.
It was notable that the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Saudi Arabia was suddenly postponed indefinitely. It then emerged that the end of season WTA Finals in women's tennis would be leaving Saudi Arabia after a three-year hosting deal was not extended. The sense that the era of lavish spending was coming to an end seemed to be reinforced by the conflict in the Middle East, which has caused disruption to Saudi Arabia's oil exportation, and required increased spending on defence.
Last month, PIF confirmed a new emphasis on "sustained value creation…and maximizing long-term returns", with a statement , external making no mention of sport, fuelling the sense that its interest was waning. Soon after, PIF announced it had sold Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal. The Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters was cancelled, just two years into a 10-year deal, and the country reportedly abandoned plans to bid to host the 2035 rugby union World Cup.