RIYADH: A number of athletes have recently been granted Saudi citizenship after a royal order issued on Thursday.
The decree aims to grant Saudi citizenship to people whose distinguished expertise serves the nation in various fields, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
It is also in line with Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to create an environment that attracts, invests in, and retains exceptional creative minds, SPA added.
The athletes given Saudi citizenship included three women: American footballer Maryam Al-Tamimi, French tennis player Maysan Hussein, and Muay Thai fighter Tasneem Al-Qassab.
Al-Tamimi was picked by head coach Monica Staab for the women’s national team. She is registered with the Saudi Football Federation and was influential in securing her former side — the Sharqiya Flames — first place in the Eastern Province League in 2021. She has since signed for Al-Ittihad in a deal that runs until 2025.
French teenage tennis player Hussein, who is 15 years old, was also given citizenship. She has won several girls’ championships in Saudi Arabia.
She finished 41st in the Asian Tennis Federation’s U14 competition and won the Mahdia Open Tennis Championship in Tunisia in the U16 category.
She was also runner-up in the women’s singles at the 2023 Saudi Games.
Syrian Muay Thai fighter Al-Qassab, also a teenager, was among those granted citizenship. She won the 2021 Saudi Women’s Championship, held in Riyadh, and came third in the Virtual World Championship, held in the same year amid the COVID-19 pandemic, during which she represented Saudi Arabia.
