Sport in Saudi Arabia Sport in Saudi Arabia Sport in Saudi Arabia is an important part of Saudi Arabian culture and the country participates in many international sporting competitions. Football is a particularly popular sport and Saudi Arabia has won the Asian Cup on three occasions, while other sports such as cricket and basketball are also widely followed. Restrictions on women's sport in Saudi Arabia have been eased slightly in the 2010s but female participation in sport remains controversial. Football is the most popular sport in Saudi Arabia. In recent years, the sport has grown in popularity, and some Saudi players currently play in
Sport of sport, or in its reporting: people compete in national teams, or commentators and audiences can adopt a partisan view. On occasion, such tensions can lead to violent confrontation among players or spectators within and beyond the sporting venue, as in the Football War. These trends are seen by many as contrary to the fundamental ethos of sport being carried on for its own sake and for the enjoyment of its participants. A very famous case when sport and politics collided was the 1972 Olympics in Munich. Masked men entered the hotel of the Israeli olympic team and killed many