Winter Games delay raises uncertainty for Saudi construction
26 January 2026
Commentary
Yasir Iqbal
Construction writer
Saudi Arabia’s decision to postpone the 2029 Asian Winter Games at Trojena can be viewed as the first officially acknowledged crack in the kingdom’s gigaproject ambitions.
Although the delay may be nothing more than pragmatic schedule management, in a market already sensitive to signals, an official postponement could have wider repercussions.
The Asian Winter Games is an international event that requires a greater level of transparency than many other projects in the kingdom. The award of the games, and the decision to postpone it, was made following a formal process involving the Olympic Council of Asia, meaning what might otherwise have been managed quietly and internally becomes a global announcement.
The delay raises questions about the future of projects already under execution at Trojena. This includes projects from dams, tunnels and other major infrastructure works to high-profile assets such as the Vault. A postponed anchor event does not automatically mean construction stops, but it will trigger uncertainty across the supply chain that some packages could be deferred, resized or, in a worst-case scenario, cancelled.
For the broader Saudi construction market, the delay heightens uncertainty about the future of other projects that may also be delayed. If investors and contractors start assuming that postponements are the new normal, bidding appetite, pricing and delivery risk premiums can all shift.
The fear is that delaying the Winter Games will trigger other high-profile cancellations. While that might not necessarily be the case, it could accelerate a sorting process. Projects that are less central to the national interest may find themselves competing harder for capital.
The industry will also point to the broader backdrop. According to data from regional project tracker MEED Projects, the value of contracts awarded on the kingdom's gigaprojects dropped by over 62% last year, from about $35bn in 2024 to $13bn in 2025, thus making the rescheduling feel more consequential.
Many in the industry will also argue that the decision is logical when other major events to be hosted by Saudi Arabia are considered. When Trojena was selected as the venue for the Asian Winter Games in 2022, Saudi Arabia had yet to secure the rights to host Expo 2030 and the 2034 Fifa World Cup. Those two large-scale events are much more high profile than the Winter Games, and also reset national priorities along with plans for capital allocation.
Ultimately, the Asian Winter Games are peripheral compared to the global weight of Expo 2030 and the 2034 World Cup. If confirmations on those two events had come before 2022, it is likely that Saudi Arabia would not have bid to host the event in the first place.
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