In recent days, CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr, media executive Wayne Borg and Antoni Vives have left. The former allegedly threatened to 'shoot' employees, the latter is accused of denigrating the Muslim religion. Meanwhile, the aim now is to complete 'the sporting aspect' in order to be able to hold the events on the calendar.

 

Riyadh (AsiaNews/Agencies) - New clouds are gathering over the Neom mega-project, the ,500 billion "city of the future" wanted by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (Mbs), already the subject of downsizing and in the crosshairs of international organisations for violence and exploitation of workers.

According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, in fact, in recent days the CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr, who has been running the construction site since 2018, left the post along with other senior executives - subject to criticism for abuses and mocking Islam - leaving the project in uncertainty.

Nasr himself earned a sinister reputation for running Neom over the years, boasting that he treated people "like slaves" and saying that "when they fall dead, I celebrate. That's how I do my projects'.

 

In a case with disturbing contours, after two video game companies had cancelled their sponsorship agreements with Neom, Nasr allegedly heavily targeted his communications team; he threatened them, saying he was ready to 'grab a gun from under his desk and shoot' if they were not told who was responsible for the failure of the partnership.

According to the WSJ, the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), which controls the financing of the mega-city, is stepping in to take direct control. The Saudi Gazette also reports that Iman al-Mudaifer, a senior Pif real estate executive, is now acting CEO.

Two other controversial foreign executives have also left Neom. They are Wayne Borg, who headed the media division, and Antoni Vives, an executive who ran The Line project: they have both abruptly left office. The former was known for his rants, during which he would also denigrate the Muslim religion, make obscene references to sexual positions and say that women in the Gulf looked like 'transvestites'.

He also allegedly called South Asian immigrant workers employed in Neom 'fucking idiots' and that 'white people are at the top in an order of importance'.

The latter was a trusted man of Nasr, with a role in the project that raised questions after a Spanish court convicted him in 2021 of corruption in his previous job at Barcelona City Hall.

Neom is the futuristic city wanted by Mohammad bin Salman, as part of the economic reforms promoted with 'Vision 2030', a modernisation plan in open competition with other Gulf metropolises. It was built from scratch in the desert overlooking the Red Sea, where everything is to be environmentally sustainable and reachable on foot in five minutes, but with the possibility of travelling from one end to the other in 20 minutes on high-speed trains.

Plans include an industrial city, ports and tourist infrastructure, and it has even been awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games in a mountain resort called Trojena.

The development of the 'Line' is supposed to take place in several phases and cover a 170 km stretch of coastline; the first was to be completed in 2026 and reach between 1.5 and 2 million inhabitants in 2030, to reach nine million in 2045. However, according to updates in recent months a downsizing is emerging with the completion of 'only' 2.4 km in 2030.

In a phase of reduced expectations, but above all costs, the objective of completing the essential elements to be able to host the 'sporting' events of the next decade seems to prevail. Three inside sources interviewed by Reuters after the sudden departure of Nadhmi al-Nasr explain that 'when the project was first presented, the costs were 0 billion.

The Line alone would end up costing over a trillion, which is why it has been scaled down'. It envisages suspended paths, gardens and a stadium and aims to run on 100 per cent renewable energy.

Work is now focused exclusively on completing the 2.4-kilometre stretch that includes the stadium, which is expected to host the 2034 World Cup finals. Then future plans will be evaluated.

"The Line changed its plans (in September and October) to integrate the stadium, which brought utility to the project,' the source points out, adding that Neom has been 'downsized and divided into parts'.

Another priority is the completion of Trojena, the mountain resort originally planned to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029. Two other sources familiar with the matter said al-Nasr's departure was largely due to its inability to achieve key goals.