Sport in the Arab World

The Arab States have tried to form unions of several non-political organizations. Sport has been one of the main activities used to unify Arabs. Several tournaments and games were created to let Arab participate in sports, in an effort to bring the members of the Arab world closer to each other. Pan-Arab sporting governing bodies include the Union of Arab National Olympic Committees, Arab Athletics Federation, Arab Swimming Confederation, Arab Basketball Confederation, Arab Handball Federation, Arab Rugby Federation, Arab Volleyball Association, Arab Ice Hockey Federation and the GCC Ice Hockey Federation.

The Pan Arab Games were created in 1953 with a grand opening in Alexandria, which hosted the first Games; the games were supposed to take place every four years, like the Olympic Games. Several political problems have made this difficult. The Games included most of the same events as the Olympics. Egypt, with 985 medals over the years, is the leader in medal wins, followed by Syria with 692 medals, then Algeria with 624 medals. Mauritania and Comoros are the only two Arab States that never won a medal in the games.

In nearly 100 years of Arab participation at the Olympic Games, the combined tally of medals won by all Arab countries is 149. In the 21st century, Arab nations constitute almost 11 per cent of the total number of participating nations (204), and have won an average of 11 medals every edition since the turn of the century. Combined, they have achieved their greatest feat at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, winning 18 of the 1,080 total medals whilst achieving the most combined gold medals at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, with a total of 7 gold medals won.

Though the modern version of the Olympic games began in 1896, it was not until 1912 that Arabs appeared on the international sporting scene. Egypt became the first Arab country to send an Olympic delegation - fencer Ahmed Hassanein - to the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm. Sixteen years later, Egypt won its first two gold medals, in weightlifting and wrestling, and a silver and bronze in diving at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Since then it has maintained its competitive edge over other Arab countries and leads the Olympic chart among Arab nations with a total of 41 medals.

In the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, Egypt sent the largest ever Arab delegation of 148 athletes competing in archery, artistic swimming, athletics, boxing, canoeing, cycling, diving, equestrian, fencing, football, gymnastics, handball, judo, modern pentathlon, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.

The 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles marked a watershed moment for Arab athletics when Morocco's Nawal El Moutawakel became the first Arab woman to win a gold medal,^[1] participating in the 400m hurdles.

Fellow countryman Saïd Aouita also brought home the gold in the 5000m men's marathon. Moroccan talent continued to emerge as Hicham El Guerrouj returned from the 2004 Athens Olympics with two gold medals in the 1500m and 5000m races. Morocco is second to Egypt with 26 Olympic medals.

Summary

Four African and six Asian members of the Arab League have qualified for the FIFA World Cup, with Morocco recording the most notable achievement by reaching the semi-finals in 2022. The 2022 FIFA World Cup was held in Qatar, whilst the 2030 and 2034 FIFA World Cups are set to be held in Morocco and Saudi Arabia, respectively.^[2]

The team ranking in each tournament is according to FIFA.^[3][4][5] The rankings, apart from the top four positions (top two in 1930), are not a result of direct competition between the teams; instead, teams eliminated in the same round are ranked by their full results in the tournament.

For each tournament, the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.

The Union of Arab Football Associations (UAFA), founded in 1974, is the governing body for football in the Arab world. It organizes several regional competitions, including the Arab Nations Cup and the UAFA Club Championship. Since 2021, the Arab Nations Cup has been organized by FIFA. UAFA also oversees other football-related tournaments, including the Arab Beach Soccer Cup and Arab Futsal Cup.

Other football federations composed entirely of Arab nations include the Union of North African Football (UNAF), the West Asian Football Federation (WAFF), and the Arab Gulf Cup Football Federation (AGCFF).

Arab states have played an important role in the history of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). The confederation was founded in Khartoum, Sudan and is currently headquartered in Giza, Egypt. Shortly after its establishment, Sudan hosted the inaugural Africa Cup of Nation (AFCON). Since then, African member states of the Arab League have hosted 12 editions of the tournament and have won the competition on 12 occasions.

Likewise, Asian members of the Arab League have hosted seven AFC Asian Cups, winning seven editions.

The Egyptian Open was the first tennis tournament held in the Arab world, having been established in 1925 and remaining in existence until its discontinuation in 2002. It was staged almost annually and attracted many prominent players, including Gottfried von Cramm, Henri Cochet, Frank Parker, Lew Hoad, Manuel Santana, and Thomas Muster. Due to its longevity, the tournament saw participation from players representing countries including Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia; several of whom went on to win the event. Roderich Menzel, Jaroslav Drobný and Nicola Pietrangeli each won the tournament a record four times.

Three Arab cities currently host events on the ATP Tour, forming part of the men’s professional tennis calendar. The Dubai Tennis Championships, held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, is an ATP 500 tournament played on outdoor hard courts. Similarly, the Qatar Open, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Qatar ExxonMobil Open, is also an annual ATP 500 tournament played on outdoor hard courts in Doha, Qatar and traditionally held early in the season. The Grand Prix Hassan II in Morocco is the third and only tournament on the African continent, it is an ATP 250 clay‑court event.

In addition, Saudi Arabia has been awarded a future ATP Masters 1000 event, set to debut as early as 2028, marking a significant expansion of the Tour’s elite category.^[6]

Arab tennis players have competed in international professional tennis since the mid‑20th century, achieving a range of noteworthy results on the ATP and WTA Tours. The only player to win a Grand Slam while representing an Arab country is the naturalized Jaroslav Drobný, whilst representing Egypt; he reached eight Grand Slam finals and won three singles titles.

Several Arab male players have reached the top 50 in the ATP rankings, including Younes El Aynaoui (No. 14), Hicham Arazi (No. 22), Karim Alami (No. 25), Ismail El Shafei (No. 34) and Malek Jaziri (No. 42). On the women’s side, Selima Sfar of Tunisia made history by becoming the first Arab female to enter the top 100, reaching No. 75 in 2001. She was later surpassed by Mayar Sherif (No. 31 in 2023) and Ons Jabeur, achieving a career-high ranking of No. 2 in 2022, the highest ever for any Arab athlete, male or female, in the 21st century.

Several top‑10 ranked and Olympic‑medalists were born in Arab countries but chose to represent other nations, including Guy Forget, Françoise Dürr, Nicola Pietrangeli, Pierre Darmon, and Arnaud Di Pasquale.

The first Grand Prix events held in the Arab World were the Tripoli Grand Prix and the Moroccan Grand Prix, both inaugurated in 1925. The success of the Italian-organized race in Libya, combined with the growing popularity of the Moroccan Grand Prix, helped motor racing flourish across North Africa and led to the debut of the Tunis Grand Prix and Algerian Grand Prix in 1928, marking the expansion of competitive motorsport throughout the region. These races attracted top European drivers and teams, showcasing some of the fastest and most challenging circuits of the era.

Tripoli became especially renowned for its purpose-built Mellaha Circuit, considered one of the fastest tracks of the 1930s, Tunis featured street and coastal circuits around Tunis and Carthage and the Algerian Prix was held on a variety of coastal courses, becoming a key event in the colonial-era European racing calendar. The most prominent, the Moroccan Grand Prix, evolved through several circuits, culminating in the Ain-Diab Circuit, a Formula One road circuit built in 1957. All four races had ceased to exist by the mid-20th century.

The Arab world has a rich history with Formula One and top-level motorsport, beginning with early races such as the 1947 Gezira Grand Prix in Cairo, Egypt. This one-off event, also known as the Cairo Grand Prix or Pyramids Circuit, was held on public roads on Gezira Island and marked one of the earliest major competitive motor races in the Arab world, attracting international drivers. The next F1 race hosted in the Arab world was the 1958 Moroccan Grand Prix at the Ain-Diab Circuit in Casablanca, which served as the final round of the Formula One World Championship that year. Following the Moroccan Grand Prix, the Arab world experienced a hiatus from top-level motorsport lasting more than four decades.

At the turn of the century, interest in hosting an international motorsport event in the Arab world resurfaced. Beirut, Lebanon was proposed as a Formula One host city in 1999, with a 4.1 km street circuit planned around Zaituna Bay and a target date for the inaugural race in 2002.^[7] Around the same time, Egyptian motorsport officials expressed confidence that the country could be ready to stage a Formula One race by the end of 2004, whilst Tunisia also announced intentions to pursue an F1 event, with the president of the Tunisian Automobile Club indicating readiness to engage with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for a future Grand Prix.^[8][9] However, none of these proposals ultimately came to fruition due to political instability, funding difficulties, and competing bids.

The long-awaited revival of Formula One in the Arab world was finally realized when Bahrain secured its place on the F1 calendar, hosting the inaugural Bahrain Grand Prix in 2004. Since then, several other Arab cities have hosted races, including the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit (2009-), the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit (2021-), and the Qatar Grand Prix at Lusail International Circuit (2021, 2023-). In addition to these, there are two FIA Grade One circuits that have never hosted a Formula One race: Kuwait Motor Town and Dubai Autodrome. The region also features two FIA Grade Two circuits, Marrakech Street Circuit and Circuit Sidi Daoui de Oued Zem in Morocco, as well as one FIA Grade Three circuit, the Riyadh Street Circuit. The Qiddiya Speed Park Track is expected to replace the Jeddah Corniche Circuit as the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix venue in 2028. In 2025, Morocco revealed plans to return to the Formula One calendar with a proposed £887 million project in Tangier.^[10]

As of 2026, four Arab sovereign wealth funds hold stakes in Formula One teams. Bahrain’s Mumtalakat Holding Company is the major shareholder of McLaren Racing, whilst Abu Dhabi’s CYVN Holdings owns 100% of McLaren Automotive and holds a non-controlling stake in the racing team.^[11] Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns a 20.5% stake in Aston Martin and holds 8% of the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team.^[12] The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) owns a 17% stake of the Volkswagen Group and a 30% stake in Sauber Motorsport, which operates the Audi Revolut F1 Team, and the Kuwait Investment Authority holds a 4.94% stake in Mercedes-Benz Group, which in turn controls 33.3% of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Only one driver has competed in a Formula One World Championship race while representing an Arab nation: Robert La Caze, who represented Morocco in 1958. Several other F1 drivers have been of Arab descent such as Isack Hadjar, Felipe Nasr and Tony Kanaan. Female drivers from the Arab world have also begun to emerge in international motorsport, with pioneers such as Hamda Al Qubaisi, Amna Al Qubaisi, Reema Juffali, and Sofia Zanfari helping to pave the way for future generations of Arab women in racing.

Rallying in the Arab world began in Algeria with early endurance events such as the Algiers–Gao Rally, first held in 1930.^[13] Morocco followed with the establishment of the Rallye du Maroc in 1934, which would become one of the region’s most enduring and prestigious rally events. Algeria later served as the starting point for the Algiers–Cape Town Rally, held between 1951 and 1961. Organized by French authorities, the event covered approximately 10,000 miles (16,000 km) from the Mediterranean coast to South Africa and was among the longest rallies ever staged, significantly increasing international interest in long-distance rallying.^[14]

From the latter half of the 20th century onward, the Arab world became a regular host of internationally sanctioned rally events. These included rounds of the World Rally Championship, such as the Rallye du Maroc in Casablanca (1973, 1975–1976), Jordan Rally in Amman (2008, 2010–2011) and the only current Arab event on the calendar, Rally Saudi Arabia (2025-).

The region has also played a major role in rally-raid and cross-country rallying. From 1979 to 2007, the Dakar Rally has always passed through at least one Arab country, including Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, or Mauritania. However, the event was cancelled in 2008 due to security concerns, particularly following threats in Mauritania, and subsequently relocated outside Africa. The rally returned to the Arab world when Saudi Arabia secured the hosting rights under a 10-year agreement, staging the event annually from 2020 onward. An Arab manufacturer, SONACOME, won the truck category at the 1980 Dakar Rally, the three trucks entered by the Algerian brand finished first, third, and fourth in the inaugural season for the truck class, with the SONACOME M210 taking the overall win in the truck category.^[15]

Other notable competitions include the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, Rallye du Maroc (rally raid), Merzouga Rally, Rallye des Pharaons, and the Rally of Tunisia, all of which highlight the region’s desert terrain and endurance-focused rally tradition.

Among Arab competitors, Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar is the most prominent rally driver from the region. He was the 2006 Production World Rally Champion, 2014 and 2015 WRC-2 champion, an 18 time Middle East Rally Champion, a five-time FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies champion, a three-time World Rally-Raid Champion, and a six-time (2011, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2026) Dakar Rally winner. Other prominent drivers are Saudi Arabia's Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Algeria’s Miloud Ataouat, both winning an edition of the Dakar Rally.

• 1978 All-Africa Games - Algiers
• 1991 All-Africa Games - Egypt
• 2006 Asian Games - Doha
• 2007 All-Africa Games - Algiers
• 2010 Asian Beach Games (Muscat)

• 2011 Asian Indoor Games (Doha)
• 2016 Summer Olympics (Doha)

• Sports in Africa
• Sports in Asia
• Boycotts of Israel in sports