RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC) launched the high-profile Olympic Falcon Program— London 2012 at a glittering gala show at the Al-Faisaliah Hotel here Sunday night. The ambitious program, under which an individual gold medal winner will be given SR1 million, marks the Kingdom’s first steps in a complete relaunch of its bid for medal success at the 30th Olympic Games in London in 2012.
“This landmark launch will revolutionize Saudi Arabia’s approach to the Olympic Games,” said Prince Sultan bin Fahd, president of the General Presidency of Youth Welfare (GPYW) and SAOC.
Besides the SR1 million for the gold medal the package of cash incentives includes SR700,000 and SR400,00 for each winner of the silver and bronze medals. Also on offer are SR5 million, SR3 million and SR 2 million for the team winners of the gold, silver and bronze medals in that order. The cash windfall will also benefit all the trainers and support staff.
Prince Sultan said that “we want to increase the awareness of our athletes across a broad range of sports and bring these sports closer to the youth of Saudi Arabia.” He added that “we will work closely with the relevant federations to achieve maximum success for our athletes.”
Prince Sultan’s deputy at GPYW, Prince Nawaf, a member of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) since 2002, president of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and executive vice president of the Union of Arab Football Associations, said that “this is an occasion to prepare for ourselves in order to grab our share in the games.” A senior Olympic delegation announced a new ‘Olympic Falcon’ logo will be used by the Saudi Arabian Olympic Team in the buildup to London 2012.
Prince Nawaf, who is also the deputy chief of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee (SAOC), said that “the Kingdom wants to first focus on training and subsequent qualification of our athletes for London 2012 and then take that a stage further with a view to achieving medal success in three years time”.
Plans for a ‘Search for a new Saudi Sporting Hero’ and an ongoing ‘Green Yacht’ hospitality program have also been mooted, in addition to a potential tie-in with Saudi Arabian Airlines and contractual agreements with a leading American sports management consultancy and an Austrian-based advertising and marketing agency.
The SAOC is also in the process of revamping and re-launching www.saudiolympic.org.sa, which will go live soon and will be continually updated with breaking news and events during the buildup to London 2012. Roush Consulting has been appointed to handle pre-games training program. A contract has already been signed with Steve Roush, while the preparations for London 2012 have already started.
“It is a privilege and an honour for me to be working with the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee on this exciting new project,” said Roush, speaking on the occasion. “I aim to pass on as much of my knowledge and experience as I can to the athletes from Saudi Arabia and the ultimate goal is obviously to have individuals finishing in medal positions in London in three years time,” he added. A GPYW official said emphasis will be placed on ensuring that Saudi athletes are well-prepared and focused for qualifying events and major sporting meetings such as the 16th Asian Games Guangzhou 2010, Muscat 2010, 2nd Asian Beach Games, the 3rd Asian Indoor Games Hanoi, Vietnam 2009 and the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.
“The Salzburg-based advertising agency Adhurricane has been appointed to handle pre-games marketing and sponsorship agreements and will work closely with the SAOC. This Austrian agency is headed by Peter Wawra, the branding and marketing specialist, and his team will work on furthering the goals of the SAOC and handling a detailed publicity campaign in the buildup to the games. The company is planning to launch an exclusive new video channel with regular updates of athletes’ progress and is discussing plans for an exclusive web page for SAOC news.
Plans are also afoot to launch a sports-orientated ‘Olympic Talk Show’ following a proposed exclusive tie-in with a satellite television network, said a press statement released on this occasion. These programs will feature past and present Olympic greats, members of Saudi Arabia’s sporting communities and potential stars of the future. A ‘Fan Reporter Contest’ will also be launched in association with a leading local Arabic and English newspaper to encourage up and coming sports writers to air their views on sporting topics, the statement said.
