Saudi Araba is seeking to stage the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Trojena ©Twitter/NEOM

Saudi Arabia's bid to stage the Asian Winter Games in 2029 has received the backing of the Untied Arab Emirates.

Saudi Araba is seeking to stage the event in Trojena, set to be the country's first ski resort and part of the massive Neom construction project.

It is not believed to have any rivals also seeking the right to hold the Asian Winter Games in 2029.

Ahmad Belhoul Al-Falasi, vice-president of the United Arab Emirates National Olympic Committee, the country's Education Minister and chairman of the UAE's General Authority of Sports, met with Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal on the sidelines of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya.

Prince Abdulaziz is President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC), as well as the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation President.

Per state news agency WAM, Al-Falasi expressed the UAE's full support for the Saudi bid for the 2029 Asian Winter Games.

Staging the event could be an important step in popularising winter sports in West Asia, it is claimed.

A host of the 2029 Asian Winter Games is due to be decided at the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) General Assembly in Cambodian capital Phnom Penh on October 4.

Ahmad Belhoul Al-Falasi, vice-president of the UAE National Olympic Committee, met Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee leader Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal in Konya ©Twitter/UAENOC
Ahmad Belhoul Al-Falasi, vice-president of the UAE National Olympic Committee, met Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee leader Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal in Konya ©Twitter/UAENOC

The SOPC's application to host has been acknowledged by the OCA, which last staged Asian Winter Games in 2017.

Neom is a futuristic development being built near the Red Sea.

The Trojena plans, only announced earlier this year, centre on the Sarawat Mountains and include a man-made lake and "vertical village" within a skyscraper.

Saudi Arabia has sought to position itself as a major event host in recent years, leading to accusations of sportswashing because of its poor record on human rights which includes restricting press and women's freedoms and leading a coalition which has carried out deadly airstrikes across Yemen since 2015.

The nation is due to stage the Asian Games for the first time in capital Riyadh in 2034.

Riyadh is also due to host next year's World Combat Games.

As well as hosting events, Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund has purchased English football club Newcastle United and is bankrolling LIV Golf, a new circuit rivalling the PGA Tour.