Saudi Crown Prince Didn’t Attend Olympics Due to Scheduling Conflict, Beijing Says

China’s Foreign Ministry told reporters on Tuesday that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, skipped the Winter Olympics opening ceremony “due to scheduling reasons,” despite appearing on the guest list, The New Arab reported. He also did not attend a banquet hosted on Saturday by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Western leaders including US President Joe Biden staged a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games to protest China’s human rights abuses, but the leaders of 22 countries did attend the opening ceremony, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as Pakistan.

A report announcing the Saudi delegation on February 3, the day before the opening ceremony, in the official Saudi Press Agency, did not include the crown prince, however. According to the SPA, the Saudi delegation comprised Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, minister of Sports and president of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee; Prince Fahd bin Jalawi bin Abdulaziz bin Musaed, vice president of the Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee; Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, member of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee and member of the International Olympic Committee; and member of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Adwa Al-Oraifi.

Saudi Arabia is participating in the Winter Olympics for the first time with one athlete, alpine skier Fayik Abdi.