Fatima bint Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan becomes the main sponsor and the venerable event gets the official name Al Shira'aa Falsterbo Horse Show.
The commitment illustrates the increasingly strong influence that countries around the Persian Gulf – primarily Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar – are gaining in equestrian sports.
Sportwashing or not, a comprehensive and broad investment in equestrian sports has been ongoing in these countries for a long time.
Olympic Games Medals
As early as in Sydney 2000, Khalid Al Eid took bronze in show jumping and became the first Saudi medalist in an Olympic Games. At the Olympic Games in London 2012, a team silver was won.
Or rather bought, critics meant. The Saudis invested hundreds of millions of kronor in top horses just in time for the games.
In the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Qatari Ali Al-Thani came sixth in individual show jumping.
In the latest world ranking, three Saudi show jumpers are among the top 100. For comparison, Sweden has four – Henrik von Eckermann, Peder Fredricson, Rolf-Göran Bengtsson, and Petronella Andersson.
Swedish national team riders have for several years started the season with competitions in sharp international competition in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
New Tour Next Year
Malin Baryard Johnsson, multiple championship medalist and for several decades one of Swedish equestrian sports' poster names, recently won a five-star show jumping competition in Doha. The victory on the horse Indiana gave nearly two million kronor.
The Global Champions Tour launched this year's season in Doha last weekend. Previously, the World Cup has arranged finals in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
The investment continues. Doha has just launched a tour from January to March next year, mainly at the top-modern facility Al Shaqab.
The prize pot is substantial, around 110 million kronor.
