Islamic Solidarity Games

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Islamic Solidarity Games
ألعاب التضامن الإسلامي
Opening ceremony of the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey
First event2005 Islamic Solidarity Games in Mecca, Saudi Arabia
Occur everyFour years
Last event2025 Islamic Solidarity Games in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Next event2029 Islamic Solidarity Games in Selangor, Malaysia
PurposeMulti-sport event for member countries of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation
HeadquartersRiyadh, Saudi Arabia
OrganizationIslamic Solidarity Sports Association
Websiteissf.sa Edit this at Wikidata

The Islamic Solidarity Games (Arabic: ألعاب التضامن الإسلامي, romanized: Alʿāb at-Taḍāmun al-Islāmī) is a multinational, multi-sport event that has been held since 2005. Managed jointly by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA),[1] the Games involve elite athletes from the OIC members competing in a variety of sports. The most recent edition (2025) took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background

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The Solidarity Games were established to strengthen Islamic camaraderie and reinforce the values of Islam, primarily to the youth.[2] The ISSF strives to improve Islamic solidarity, promote Islamic identity in sports and help reduce discrimination toward Muslims.[2]

There are currently 57 members of the OIC.[3] Non-Muslim citizens from member countries are also allowed to take part in the Games.[4] With the level of political fragmentation, the deficiencies in economic development in many Muslim countries, and the financial cost of the Islamic Solidarity games, the longevity of the games is an on-going challenge.[2]

History

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Main article: Islamic Games

The idea for the Solidarity Games came from Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, during the Third Islamic Summit in Mecca in 1981.[2] The first Solidarity Games were held there in 2005. In that edition, the games were male-only with 7,000 athletes from fifty-four countries competing in thirteen sports.[5]

The second Games were originally scheduled to take place in October 2009 in Iran, later rescheduled for April 2010, and ultimately canceled after a dispute arose between Iran and the Arab world over the use of the term "Persian Gulf" in logos for the Games, as some countries in the Arab world use the term "Arabian Gulf" instead. Dispute over the name has been a recurring source of disharmony between Arab states and Iran.[6]

The 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games was held in Palembang, Indonesia in 2013 and the fourth edition took place in Baku on 12–22 May 2017.[7][8]

The 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games were the fifth edition of the event. It was the first time that the event was organised by the Turkish Olympic Committee. Scheduled to take place in 2021, the event was postponed and held in 2022 in Konya, Turkey due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The sixth games took place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first to be held in a country for the second time.

Editions

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Islamic Solidarity Games hosts
Edition Year Host Games dates /
Opened by[a] 		Countries Competitors Sports Events Top-ranked team
I 2005 Saudi Arabia Mecca, Medina, Jeddah and Taif 8–20 April 2005
Governor Abdul Majeed bin Abdulaziz Al Saud 		55[5] 7,000[5] 15 108 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
II 2009 Iran Tehran, Isfahan and Mashhad Canceled[b]
III 2013 Indonesia Palembang 22 September – 1 October 2013
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 		57 1,769 13 183 Indonesia Indonesia
IV 2017 Azerbaijan Baku 12–22 May 2017
President Ilham Aliyev 		54 6,000 21 268 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan
V 2021 Turkey Konya 9–18 August 2022[c]
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan 		55 4,200 19 380 Turkey Turkey
VI 2025 Saudi Arabia Riyadh[d] 7–21 November 2025
Governor Faisal bin Bandar Al Saud 		57 3,065 21 270 Turkey Turkey
VII 2029 Malaysia Selangor Future event
  1. ^ Names & offices in italics reflect an opener who was not head of state when opening the Games. If the office is partially italicized, the non-italicized portion is the office & name of the head of state being represented.
  2. ^ Originally scheduled for 2009, and later re-scheduled for 2010, was cancelled after a dispute arose between Iran and the Arab countries.
  3. ^ Originally scheduled for 2021, the Games were postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the event was still referred to as the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games to preserve the 4-year cycle.
  4. ^ In April 2021, it was announced that the 2025 games would take place in Cameroon. However, in May 2024, the ISSF announced that Riyadh would be the hosts of this edition.

Sports

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35 sports have been presented in the Islamic Solidarity Games.

Current sports (2025)

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New sports

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Previous sports

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Medal count

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All-time Islamic Solidarity Games medal table (as of 2025)
RankteamGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Turkey (TUR)311250239800
2 Iran (IRI)147112139398
3 Azerbaijan (AZE)123118118359
4 Uzbekistan (UZB)9594128317
5 Egypt (EGY)636265190
6 Indonesia (INA)609097247
7 Kazakhstan (KAZ)575678191
8 Saudi Arabia (KSA)554568168
9 Morocco (MAR)504676172
10 Bahrain (BHR)39242285
11 Malaysia (MAS)332344100
12 Algeria (ALG)274886161
13 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ)18193875
14 Iraq (IRQ)14241957
15 Nigeria (NGR)1418941
16 Qatar (QAT)11111941
17 Jordan (JOR)1193252
18 Kuwait (KUW)9211141
19 United Arab Emirates (UAE)9132850
20 Tunisia (TUN)883955
21 Turkmenistan (TKM)7112846
22 Syria (SYR)761528
23 Oman (OMN)691631
24 Cameroon (CMR)5111834
25 Uganda (UGA)510924
26 Pakistan (PAK)541423
27 Senegal (SEN)361726
28 Gambia (GAM)3115
29 Djibouti (DJI)24511
30 Libya (LBA)2169
31 Tajikistan (TJK)171321
32 Sudan (SUD)1539
33 Bangladesh (BAN)14813
34 Burkina Faso (BUR)1326
35 Ivory Coast (CIV)111113
36 Afghanistan (AFG)11810
37 Niger (NIG)1124
38 Benin (BEN)1023
 Guinea-Bissau (GBS)1023
40 Mozambique (MOZ)1012
41 Palestine (PLE)0459
42 Guyana (GUY)0358
43 Albania (ALB)0303
44 Guinea (GUI)0202
 Mali (MLI)0202
46 Lebanon (LBN)01910
47 Yemen (YEM)0189
48 Suriname (SUR)0123
 Togo (TOG)0123
50 Brunei (BRU)0101
51 Maldives (MDV)0022
 Sierra Leone (SLE)0022
Totals (52 entries)1,2091,1951,5713,975

See also

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References

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  1. ^ designthemes. "Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation". issf.sa. Archived from the original on 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  2. ^ a b c d Amara, Mahfoud (2008). "The Muslim World in the Global Sporting Arena". Brown Journal of World Affairs. XIV: 2 – via Academic Search Complete.
  3. ^ "Islamic Solidarity Games". www.topendsports.com. Archived from the original on 2018-01-06. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
  4. ^ "What are the Islamic Solidarity Games and what makes them significant?". TRT World. 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "The Islamic Games: 'Love, friendship and humility'". The Independent. 2005-04-10. Archived from the original on 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  6. ^ "Islamic Solidarity Games cancelled after gulf row divides nations". The Guardian. Associated Press. 2010-01-17. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2020-11-22. Retrieved 2024-04-18.
  7. ^ "Baku wins the 2017 Islamic Solidarity Games hosting bid". Hürriyet Daily News. 29 July 2013. Archived from the original on 30 October 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  8. ^ "Baku 2017". baku2017.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2017-05-05.
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