Cash, luxury cars and land grants, Paris Games a gold mine for Arab Olympic medallists

CAIRO – Karateka Tareg Hamedi went from being a hard-working student-athlete to a national hero and millionaire after landing Saudi Arabia’s second-ever Olympic silver in Tokyo in 2021.

Olympic medals remain a rarity for Arab athletes but those who do manage to get onto the podium can expect lavish rewards, from luxury cars to land grants and a healthy boost to their bank balances.

Even as the sporting world debates the decision by World Athletics to award US$50,000 (S$67,000) to track and field gold medallists at the Paris Games, athletes from the region can be sure of much bigger payouts if they can snare a title in France.

In Tokyo, Hamedi missed out on claiming his country’s first gold medal in controversial circumstances, when he knocked out his opponent with an illegal kick in the final and was disqualified.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Hamedi he was a gold medallist in his country’s eyes and the fighter was rewarded with the full 5 million riyal (S$1.8 million) prize promised to Olympic title winners.

Offering huge financial incentives to medal winners is not unknown elsewhere – Singaporean swimmer Joseph Schooling banked in $1 million for his Olympic title in Rio 2016 and Hong Kong fencer Cheung Ka Long HK$5 million (S$863,000) for his Tokyo gold – but bestowing honours on champions has a long history in the Arab world.

Olympic medallists can expect streets, schools and bridges to be named after them and it is not just oil-rich Gulf nations that offer lavish gifts and monetary rewards.

In Algeria, it is customary for the country’s president to honour Olympic champions with gifts ranging from luxury cars to apartments.

The winner of a gold medal in Morocco receives 2 million dirhams (S$274,000) while Egypt’s National Olympic Committee, in agreement with sponsors, has raised the value of a gold medal to 5 million Egyptian pounds (S$141,000) for Paris.

The entire Iraqi national football team who qualified for the Paris Olympics recently received plots of land and financial bonuses.

Qatar has long used financial incentives to attract athletes from other countries to compete for the gas-rich state and the rewards for medal success are thought to be generous, even if they are not publicly disclosed.

Egypt-born weightlifter Fares Ibrahim Hassouna switched allegiance to win Qatar’s first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo in a move that did not go down well with the Egyptian Weightlifting Federation.

“They splash money on him just as football clubs do on players,” federation chief Mahmoud Mahgoub said at the time. REUTERS