CAIRO — Saudi Arabia recently expanded its investment in the sports sector in Egypt. Turki al-Sheikh, chairman of Saudi Arabia's General Sports Authority and head of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee, announced March 20 a Saudi-Egyptian action plan to support Egypt’s ability to organize the World Cup in the near future.

Sheikh’s repeated attendance of Egyptian public events, in addition to his honorary presidency of Al-Ahly soccer club and the large amounts of money he spends (unlike his predecessors), has sparked criticism and raised questions about the goals behind the Saudi spending plan on the sports sector in Egypt.

On Feb. 11, Sheikh announced the launch of the PlayStation FIFA championship at the covered hall of Cairo International Stadium, which took place March 13-15. Sheikh said that 2 million Egyptian pounds (roughly $113,000) would be awarded to the winners as follows: first place would receive 500,000 pounds ($28,000), second place 300,000 pounds ($17,000), third place 150,000 pounds ($8,500) and fourth place 50,000 pounds ($2,800). Meanwhile, those ranking 5th through 105th would receive 10,000 each, or about $565.

Sheikh has played a remarkable role in funding sports projects such as the “Project of the Century,” which is the construction of a new stadium for Al-Ahly soccer club. Mahmoud al-Khatib, chairman of the soccer club, announced the project at a press conference on Dec. 31, 2017. Construction of the stadium is expected to take 30 months.