Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2026 in Riyadh: Dates, Sports and Venues

Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2026 at a glance

The Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games sit alongside the Asian Games and the Asian Winter Games in the OCA calendar.

They gather the sports that work best under a roof: combat disciplines, indoor team sports, and mind and precision sports.

Asian Indoor Games 2026 dates and schedule

The OCA’s sports competition manager confirmed in July 2026 that competition begins on Friday 11 December, two days before the opening ceremony on Sunday 13 December.

The closing ceremony is on Monday 21 December, giving 11 days of competition, with the ceremonies framing 13 to 21 December.

Sport-by-sport session times are released by the organising committee closer to the Games, so treat the outline below as the confirmed frame and expect session detail to follow.

The full sports programme: 18 sports, 122 medal events

The OCA confirmed an 18-sport programme spanning 25 disciplines and carrying 122 medal events: 68 for men, 52 for women and 2 mixed or open.

Combat sports dominate the medal programme with 88 of those events. Padel is the notable addition to the format, and kabaddi returns after a 13-year absence, having last featured at the 2013 edition in Incheon.

Padel’s debut at Riyadh 2026

Padel joins the programme as a full medal sport for the first time at an Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games. The competition runs from 17 to 21 December at Padel Rush Arena, a Riyadh venue that already hosts Premier Padel Tour events, with each participating nation entering one men’s pair and one women’s pair and a cap of 12 national teams. The International Padel Federation confirmed the inclusion in April 2026.

Venues: the Boulevard Riyadh City arenas and the athletes’ village

Riyadh 2026 is a compact Games. The OCA has confirmed Boulevard Riyadh City, the entertainment district in northwest Riyadh that anchors Riyadh Season each winter, as the main competition venue.

Beyond that, the arena-by-arena breakdown below comes from provisional listings that the OCA and the organising committee have yet to publish in full, so treat it as indicative and check the official venue guide when it is released.

Venue allocation for karate and kabaddi has yet to be published, and arena capacities are still listed as to be announced.

Athletes and team officials are housed at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in northern Riyadh, the campus that also served as the delegation village for the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games.

The OCA has confirmed the village opens on 8 December and stays open to 24 December, with a pre-opening period from 4 to 7 December.

For spectators, the Boulevard Riyadh City cluster is the practical upside: most sessions sit within walking distance of one another, so a single day pass can realistically cover three or four sports.

Tickets for the Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2026

As of late July 2026, the Riyadh 2026 organising committee has not opened public ticket sales or published pricing.

Based on how Saudi Arabia handled the 2025 Islamic Solidarity Games and Riyadh Season events, expect sales to run through an official Games site or a Saudi ticketing platform, with announcements carried by the Olympic Council of Asia and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Practical advice with roughly 140 days to go: hold off on non-refundable travel until ticketing and the session timetable are published. Book flexible fares and refundable rooms in the meantime.

Before you travel: Saudi Arabia’s 2026 flight situation

This matters more than usual for a December 2026 trip. Saudi Arabia sits next to an active conflict, and Gulf aviation has been disrupted repeatedly through 2026.

The picture as of late July 2026:

• Saudi airspace is open, and Riyadh (RUH), Jeddah (JED), Dammam (DMM) and Madinah (MED) are operating.
• The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) let its Middle East and Persian Gulf conflict-zone bulletin lapse on 8 July 2026 and replaced it with an Information Note covering Israel, Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia, which tells operators to take the residual risk into account. Saudi Arabia carries caution-level advice, and it is not on any EASA avoid list.
• Separate EASA bulletins still apply avoid advice at all altitudes to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon. After the July escalation, EASA issued CZIB-2026-07R1 on 14 July, valid to 31 August 2026, telling operators to stay out of the Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and UAE flight information regions and the Gulf of Oman west of 58°E. That affects Gulf-hub connections into Riyadh more than Saudi airspace itself.
• Four southern airports (Abha, Jizan, Najran and Sharurah) were closed by NOTAM from 13 July 2026 after a missile and drone attack on the Abha area, with closures extended into mid-July. Check current status before booking anything through them. None of them is a Riyadh gateway for international arrivals.
• Cancellations have been heavy at times across Saudi airports, and they can arrive at short notice.
• Several European carriers have pulled back from Riyadh. As of 21 July 2026, Air France had suspended Riyadh flights to 24 July, KLM to 23 August, and British Airways was scheduled to resume on 8 August. Those dates have moved more than once.

None of that has changed the Riyadh 2026 dates, and the Games are still more than four months away. It does change how you should book. Keep to flexible fares, confirm your flight with the operating airline in the days before departure, and check your government’s travel advice for Saudi Arabia before you commit.

Confirm before you book. Wego maintains two live trackers on this: Saudi Arabia airspace and flight status, updated as airlines change plans, and Saudi events postponed or cancelled in 2026.

Getting to Riyadh and where to stay

King Khalid International Airport (RUH) is the gateway. Saudia is the flag carrier with the widest long-haul network into Riyadh, while flynas and flyadeal cover regional and domestic routes at lower fares. Gulf carriers connect through Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Manama, though those hubs have seen their own retiming through 2026.

Most travellers can enter on a Saudi tourist eVisa, applied for online before departure, and many eligible nationalities can also get a visa on arrival. Check the current eligibility list and fees on the official Visit Saudi site before you book, since the list has expanded several times.

For accommodation, the Olaya and Northern Ring Road districts put you closest to Boulevard Riyadh City, and the Diplomatic Quarter and King Abdullah Financial District suit business travellers. Compare hotels in Riyadh early: December falls in the middle of Riyadh Season, so the city runs busy even in a disrupted year, and refundable rates are worth the small premium while ticketing is unconfirmed.

Frequently asked questions

Planning a trip to Riyadh 2026

The frame is fixed: 11 days of competition, one city, 18 sports and 122 medal events, all inside a walkable Boulevard Riyadh City footprint in one of Riyadh’s most comfortable months. What remains open is ticketing, the session timetable and the regional flight picture. Watch all three before you commit to non-refundable travel, then lock in your December window and compare hotels across Saudi Arabia if you plan to pair the Games with Jeddah or AlUla.

Sources

• Olympic Council of Asia: Sports competition manager outlines AIMAG programme for Riyadh 2026 (7 July 2026, competition dates, venue, athletes’ village, athlete numbers)
• Olympic Council of Asia: RAIMAG to feature 18 sports, 122 events (25 disciplines, gender split of events)
• Olympic Council of Asia: Riyadh 2026 Games page (ceremony dates, 45 NOCs, sports list)
• Olympic Council of Asia: Calendar, 6th Asian Indoor and Martial Art Games
• Olympic Council of Asia: Aichi-Nagoya marks 60 days to go to 20th Asian Games
• International Padel Federation: Padel to be a medal sport at the 2026 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games
• EASA: Revised conflict zone advisories for Middle East (8 July 2026)
• EASA: CZIB-2026-07R1, Airspace of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman (14 July 2026)
• Safe Airspace: Saudi Arabia conflict zone and risk database entry
• ch-aviation: Attack on Abha, Saudi Arabia impacts at least eight airlines
• OPSGROUP: Middle East airspace, current operational picture
• Euronews: Air France suspends routes to Riyadh, Dubai and Beirut (Air France, KLM and British Airways Riyadh status)
• Sky Sports: F1 confirms cancellation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix, 2026 calendar reduced to 22 races
• Visit Saudi: official Saudi tourism and visa information
• Weather Spark: Average weather in December in Riyadh
• Wikipedia: 2026 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (cross-check only, for the provisional arena allocation, the per-sport event split, the award of the Games to Saudi Arabia in November 2021 and the 2034 Asian Games host)
• Wikipedia: Indoor kabaddi at the 2013 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (cross-check for kabaddi’s last appearance)
• Wikipedia: 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (cross-check, sports programme with no kabaddi)

Disclaimer: We’ve worked hard to make sure the information in this article is as accurate and up to date as possible at the time of publishing. Travel details such as prices, schedules, visa rules, and entry requirements can change at short notice, so it remains your responsibility to verify the current details with official sources before you book or travel. Wego accepts no liability for any loss or inconvenience arising from the use of this content.