Israeli gaming team competes in Saudi Arabia despite lack of official ties between the two nations

For the first time, the Jewish state’s national gaming team will compete in an international competition held in Saudi Arabia, despite a lack of official diplomatic relations between Israel and the Saudi Kingdom.

The three young Israeli gamers will participate in the annual FIFAe Club World Cup 2023, a prestigious international soccer video game competition, with a prize pool exceeding $3 million.

While this year’s competition will be held in the Saudi of Riyadh, the formal hosts are EA Sports and FIFA, the international federation of association soccer).

Saudi Arabia stressed ahead of the competition that participants from all countries would be permitted entry into the conservative Middle Eastern kingdom.

Because there is currently no normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and the Jewish state, the Israeli national gaming team manager, Zvika Kosman, had to contact FIFA to secure the coveted Saudi approval before it was allowed to participate in the global gaming competition.

The Saudis have played an important role in realizing the historic Arab-Israeli Abraham Accords since 2020 and there have been growing ties between Jerusalem and Riyadh. Despite not having signed a peace agreement with the Jewish nation itself, Saudi Arabia opened up its airspace for commercial Israeli air traffic.

The U.S. Biden administration previously stated that Saudi-Israeli normalization is important for Washington’s national security interests. In April, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen claimed an official visit to Saudi Arabia was “on the table” but such a trip has so far not materialized.

“The enemy of Saudi Arabia is certainly not Israel. Its enemy is Iran,” stated Cohen. However, with Chinese assistance, the Saudis and Iranians announced in March that they would restore diplomatic relations between the two countries.