Saudi Camel Federation

The Saudi Camel Federation is one of the entities responsible for regulating and sponsoring camel racing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the supervision of the Ministry of Sport. It was established on February 9, 2018, with His Highness Prince Fahd Bin Jalawi Bin Abdulaziz Bin Musaed as the first president in the history of the federation. Its headquarters is located in Riyadh.

The Saudi Camel Federation aims to preserve the heritage and develop the Saudi economy by elevating camel racing to international standards that align with Saudi Vision 2030. Additionally, it bears full responsibility for the governance and management of camel racing, providing services to arenas and owners, and creating an ideal environment for the practice of this sport.

On July 20, 2020, the Saudi Camel Federation enacted several regulations to govern its activities. These regulations include the Fields Regulation, Participants Regulation, Racing Regulation, Services and Financial Compensation Regulation, and the Anti-Doping Control Regulation.

The federation sponsors various races, including short-distance races, marathon races, weekly races, and festival races. As for the racing categories, they include: Mafarid, Haqayeq, Laqaya, Jatha'a, Thanaya, Heel, and Heil/Zmoul. The racing categories are divided based on the type of camels into four categories: Crossbred, purebred, production, and Sudanese. The race categories are also divided based on the owners into two categories: Open Race Category and General Race Category.

The Crown Prince Camel Festival is a sports event that contributes to promoting cultural and national aspects. It set world records in the Guinness World Records, including its registration as the largest camel racing festival in the world in 2018, with the largest number of participating camels in the races, with 11,186 camels competing in 787 rounds.

The competitions of the Crown Prince Camel Festival are the strongest and largest of their kind in the region, with allocated prizes totaling SAR53 million. The festival plays a crucial role in grounding and promoting the heritage of camel racing in Saudi, Arab, and Islamic cultures. It also contributes to supporting the Kingdom's tourism and economic activities, thereby enhancing community participation, solidifying the national heritage, and reflecting the profound civilization depth of the Kingdom.

In August 2019, the world's largest camel statue was unveiled at the Camel Village in King Faisal Park, Taif. The statue stands on a corrosion-resistant steel base, measures ten m in width and 4.65 m in height, and is equipped with 51,200 lighting sources.

The Saudi Camel Federation offers a range of paid services, including registering the owner or camel handler in the federation's system, handling annual renewal for the owner or camel handler, registering a company or institution in the federation's system, handling annual renewal for the company or institution, documenting a partnership contract, registering the owner's logo, changing the owner's logo, installing an electronic chip, registering a camel from outside the Kingdom, changing the camel's name, transferring camel ownership, retrieving a racing camel, requesting a record with the camel's history, handling an owner's printing request,,  issuing a camel owner license, renewing a camel owner license, and issuing a camel handler visa.

The federation has specified a set of sanctions for violators of laws and regulations. Among the violations are: the use of blood transfusion, the use of electric shock, the use of banned substances in doping tests, as well as fictitious registration in race stages. Violators are prohibited from participating for a period ranging from one to two months or up to two years. Additionally, they may incur financial fines ranging from SAR500 to SAR200,000.

The Saudi Camel Federation underwent a shift in its communication with the public by launching the official Twitter account for the Crown Prince Camel Festival in July 2022. This aims to amplify efforts to leverage all media channels and platforms to introduce the Crown Prince Camel Festival and its role in preserving the heritage of camel racing sport while also promoting it within Saudi and Arab cultures. Moreover, this aims to support tourism and economic movement in the Kingdom, foster this traditional heritage among the younger generation, and showcase Saudi culture and the Kingdom's cultural depth to the world through these festivals.

Guinness World Records and camel sports

The Crown Prince Camel Festival set a Guinness World Record in both 2018 and 2019, establishing itself as the largest camel sports festival globally, boasting a large number of participating camels. In 2019, it also set a record for the world's largest illuminated camel statue, equipped with 51,200 lighting sources, with a width of ten m and a height of 4.65 m.