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Italian football club FC Internazionale Milano has announced the club’s first partnership agreement in Saudi Arabia, with Zain KSA becoming Inter’s first official regional partner.

The agreement, valid throughout the 2024/25 season, will see Zain KSA, a leading provider of innovative technology in Saudi Arabia, make its debut in Italian football. Zain KSA will leverage the global visibility of the Inter brand to advance its goals of delivering innovative digital experiences that cater to sports fans in Saudi Arabia.

The partnership underscores Inter’s dedication to expanding its presence in the Middle East — one of the club’s key global markets — and get even closer its extensive and ever-growing fanbase across the region. In 2024, Inter also secured a license from the Ministry of Investment to undertake and manage commercial activities in Saudi Arabia.

“We are very happy to announce our first regional partnership in Saudi Arabia, a key market for developing the Inter brand and one that has shown growing enthusiasm for Inter,” said FC Internazionale Milano CEO Corporate Alessandro Antonello. “Besides being our first partnership in the Saudi Arabia market, this collaboration with Zain KSA also enables us to join forces with a brand that, like Inter, views innovation and care for their community as two fundamental pillars of their growth strategy.”

Thanks to this agreement, football fans in Saudi Arabia — and Nerazzurri fans in particular — will be able to use Zain KSA’s cutting-edge 5G experience with personalized home packages and special-edition Inter-themed routers.

The partnership — a first of its kind for Zain KSA in the Kingdom and in the region — is the latest in a series of innovative initiatives planned by the company to improve people’s quality of life and enrich their daily experiences.

Zain KSA’s Chief Sales Officer Maher Al-Fawaz said: “This partnership with FC Internazionale Milano aims to promote a culture of sports in the Kingdom in line with our goals to promote a dynamic, connected and vibrant society. This innovative collaboration meets the growing aspirations of football fans in the Kingdom, attracts international clubs to have activities in Saudi Arabia and reflects our commitment to contributing to the empowerment of the sports ecosystem in Saudi Arabia.”

San Shyn, a young street artist from Saudi Arabia, revealed a new vibrant public art mural outside the Saudi Embassy in the heart of Mayfair, London. The project has been realized as part of a unique Saudi-UK cross-cultural collaboration, with the piece being installed by London-based Graffiti artist Cept. The collaboration developed organically through word of mouth within the grassroots street art community and demonstrates an artistic exchange at the intersection of Saudi and UK culture.

The public nature of the artwork in London promotes a greater understanding of diverse perspectives and worldviews that Saudi artists draw upon in their contemporary works. The 80-feet mural was installed over several days at the beginning of the year and will remain in place until mid-February.

Shyn said: “I am thrilled to have had the opportunity to create this mural in London and to collaborate with the incredibly talented UK artist Cept. The mural’s distorted lines and shapes reflect the imperfection of creative expression which is at the heart of my work. This project is especially meaningful to me, as it allows me to share the evolving street art culture from Saudi Arabia on an international stage. To create something outside of my hometown and to contribute to the global dialogue of art is a dream come true.”

The project is part of a series of artistic collaborations between the Embassy and Saudi artists including with Rashed Al-Shashai, whose luminous hanging sculpture was installed in the Embassy garden last year, and Ahmed Mater’s first retrospective held at Christie’s last summer. Mater is exhibiting his iconic Magnetism installation, first shown in the UK at the British Museum in 2012, at the historic Islamic Biennale, which opened in Jeddah on Jan. 25.

Saudi Ambassador to the UK Khalid bin Bandar Al-Saud said: ”Saudi Arabia is changing, and the rise of dynamic street artists like San Shyn is a great example of this. That’s why I was keen to give her a platform in central London, where we are already showcasing Rashed Al-Shashai’s brilliant sculpture. Art is a bridge between cultures, and these works are an opportunity to demonstrate that Britain and Saudi Arabia have more in common than we might imagine.”

In this mural, the artist’s primary aim is to celebrate the street culture, capturing the essence of spontaneous, vibrant graffiti. With quick, bold strokes made using spray cans, the mural transforms ordinary walls into canvases of beauty, bringing life to the streets. Central to the artwork are figures that embody the very act of creating art, illustrating the raw energy and creativity that define this underground movement. The overall direction is inspired by the photos below, which are dynamic, colorful and unapologetically loud — just like street culture itself.

Stephen Stapleton, founder of Edge of Arabia, said: “This playful, joyful artwork in front of the Saudi Embassy in Mayfair reflects a new era of cross-cultural collaboration between the UK and Saudi Arabia. The language of art transcends the borders that divide us, and we need that language now more than ever.”