The Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG), taking place in November 2025 in Riyadh, is a 'Muslim Olympics', sponsored by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and Islamic Solidarity Sports Association (ISSA), attracting athletes from 57 OIC member states. The purpose is to provide a forum for Muslim youth without the Islamophobia and Zionist subtext central to current athletic competitions, where women are pressured not to wear modest clothing and hijab, and where Israeli competitors are given pride of place, even as Israel commits genocide and is spurned by right-thinking nations.
The 'real' Olympics, sponsored by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has been increasingly politicized, as Muslim countries and Russia/ Belorus know only too well. Competitors who live in exile from Iran, and Afghanistan compete under 'Refugee Olympic Team'; Russian/ Belarus athletes under 'Individual Neutral Athletes', as their governments are condemned by the 'collective West', which controls the IOC (much like it controls SWIFT money exchange and bans these and other disapproved countries), in hopes of toppling their governments for defying the West. This despite the fact that Israel competes freely at the Olympics despite its fascist genocidal government.
The IOC claims it doesn't let politics interfere with sports, but the hypocrisy is blatant. In response to boycotts or sanctions by the International Olympic Committee, there have been several sporting events organized as an alternative to the Olympic Games by those who were barred from attending.
*The Friendship Games were organized by Eastern Bloc countries in response to their boycott of the 1984 Olympic Games. The Friendship Games was held between 2 July and 16 September 1984 in the Soviet Union, with eight other socialist states which had boycotted the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Comparisons of the results of the Friendship Games with the Olympic Games showed athletes from the eastern bloc surpassed the Olympic winners in 20 of the 41 athletics events.
*The Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO) were set up by Indonesia in 1962 as a counter to the Olympic Games. These Games were established for the athletes of the so-called "emerging nations" (mainly newly independent socialist states). The first edition of GANEFO was held in Jakarta, Indonesia on November 10–22, 1963. The second GANEFO was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia in November 25-December 6, 1966.
*The Stars 2016 was an alternative event held for the banned Russian track and field athletes from the 2016 Rio Games. The Stars 2016 event was held before the Rio Games were scheduled, on July 28.
*The Russian proposal of a World Friendship Games, which was supposed to take place against the backdrop of the 2024 Paris Olympics. It created outrage in the IOC and was eventually canceled.
*The 13th International Sports Forum Russia: Country of Sports’ took place place in Samara on 5–7 November 2025. The focus was ‘Phygital Sport: The Future That Has Arrived Today’. The emerging phygital movement blends physical, traditional, and modern digital sports, now connecting 120 countries. Like the Islamic Solidarity Games, it insists that it, as opposed to the Olympics, is a neutral, excluding only countries that are willfully and egregiously violating international law.
ISG History
The original idea for the Solidarity Games came from Prince Faisal bin Fahd bin Abdulaziz, during the Third Islamic Summit in 1981. The first Solidarity Games were held in 2005 in Saudi Arabia. In 2005, the games were male-only with 7,000 athletes from fifty-four countries competing in thirteen different sports. Since 2010 women have been included in the games, but compete on different days than men.
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. The third ISG was held in Palembang, Indonesia, the fourth in Baku, Aerbaijan, the fifth in Konya, Turkey.
The 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games is taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here are some arresting videos (here and here), critiquing Muslim states that continue to recognize and cooperate with Israel, even as it commits genocide against the Palestinians.
Egyptians especially suffer a government that works hand in glove with Israel.
