How to Open a Pilates Studio in Saudi Arabia (2026): Licences, the New Sports Law and What to Check

Last checked: 6 October 2026. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice; confirm every requirement with the Ministry of Sport and the other competent Saudi authorities before you act.

Saudi Arabia has a new Sports Law, and anyone running or planning a Pilates studio in the Kingdom will need to comply with it. The official texts published so far confirm the law and a one-year window to comply. The details that matter most to a studio owner – how a studio is licensed and whether instructors need a licence – were not visible on the official pages we could access.

This guide separates what we confirmed on official Saudi sources, what is still pending (and who to ask), and practical planning steps. Where our research is thin, we say so rather than guess.

Key facts

• Saudi Arabia’s new Sports Law (نظام الرياضة) was approved by Council of Ministers Resolution No. 414 (4/6/1447H) and Royal Decree No. M/121 (10/6/1447H), and published in the official gazette Umm Al-Qura on 12 December 2025.
• Individuals and entities covered by the law must regularise their status within one year of its entry into force; the Minister of Sport may extend this by the same period.
• The Ministry of Sport has published a draft regulation on licences for sports professionals and programme accreditation on the Istitlaa consultation platform; we could not read its content or confirm its adoption.
• We could not confirm on an official page the e-service for a studio licence, or the current commercial-registration and municipal steps.
• The approving resolution asks the Ministry of Sport to work with GOSI and the Insurance Authority on registering players and coaches for social insurance.
• The “certified trainer licence outside a training facility” from TVTC (the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation) is for Saudi nationals and courses of up to one month and 60 hours; whether it covers Pilates is unclear.
• A private Pilates certificate, including one from Code Pilates Academy, is not a Saudi government licence to practise and does not authorise anyone to open a sports facility.

What does Saudi Arabia’s new Sports Law confirm so far?

Two notices in the official gazette, Umm Al-Qura, set the framework. Council of Ministers Resolution No. 414, dated 4/6/1447H, approved the draft Sports Law. Royal Decree No. M/121, dated 10/6/1447H, approved the law itself. Both were published on 12 December 2025.

The clause studio owners should note is the decree’s second: individuals and entities to whom the law applies must regularise their status within one year of its entry into force, and the Minister of Sport may extend that period by the same length.

What else does the approving resolution say?

• The Ministry of Sport is to coordinate with the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI) and the Insurance Authority on registering players and coaches for social insurance. Whether this covers studio instructors is not yet clear.
• The Minister of Sport may, after agreement with the relevant bodies, propose customs and tax exemptions related to sports activities. This is a power to propose, not an exemption in force, so do not build it into your budget.
• The resolution provides for setting a maximum foreign shareholding in “the company” referred to in Article 37(1) of the law. We could not read Article 37, so we cannot say whether it affects a private studio.

The gazette pages publish the decree and the resolution, not the law’s articles. We could not open the full law on an official portal, so this guide does not cover article-level details such as definitions or penalties.

Who regulates a Pilates studio in Saudi Arabia?

The Ministry of Sport is the authority named in the official texts: the Minister can extend the compliance period, and the Ministry wrote the draft regulation on licences for sports professionals. We could not read the law’s articles to confirm how a Pilates studio is classified, so ask the Ministry directly.

A studio is also a business and a set of premises. We did not verify the current procedure, fees or order of approvals: the national portal and the Ministry of Sport website were not accessible during our check. Confirm commercial registration with the Ministry of Commerce, the premises licence with your municipality (Balady platform), and the full sequence with a licensed adviser.

What is still pending or unclear? (Check with the Ministry of Sport)

Treat each gap below as an open question and put it to the authority in writing.

• Entry-into-force date. The one-year window runs from the law’s entry into force. The official gazette pages we read do not state the entry-into-force date. Check with the Ministry of Sport.
• Instructor licensing. The draft regulation was published for consultation on Istitlaa. We confirmed its title and page only; we do not know its content, whether it has been adopted or what it requires. Check with the Ministry of Sport.
• Facility licence. We could not confirm which e-service licenses a Pilates or fitness studio, or its requirements, fees and timing. Check with the Ministry of Sport.
• “Accredited by the Ministry of Sport” claims. If a course is advertised this way, ask for the official reference and confirm it with the Ministry before relying on it when hiring.

Confirmed or pending? Saudi studio rules at a glance

Topic	Status	What we found	Who to check with
Sports Law (Royal Decree M/121)	Confirmed	Published in Umm Al-Qura, 12 Dec 2025	Umm Al-Qura (official gazette)
Compliance period	Confirmed	One year from entry into force, extendable by the Minister	Ministry of Sport
Entry-into-force date	Not confirmed	Not stated on the official gazette pages we read	Ministry of Sport
Who licenses sports centres	Partly confirmed	Ministry of Sport implements the law; studio classification not verified	Ministry of Sport
Facility-licence e-service	Not confirmed	Official pages not accessible during our check	Ministry of Sport
Instructor licence	Pending (draft)	Draft on Istitlaa; content and adoption not verified	Ministry of Sport
Commercial registration / municipal licence	Not verified	Procedure and fees not checked	Ministry of Commerce; municipality (Balady)
Instructor courses in a studio	Unclear	TVTC licenses private training; Pilates coverage unclear	TVTC; Ministry of Sport

How do you open a Pilates studio in Saudi Arabia? A step-by-step plan

Each step is marked as an official rule (confirmed on an official source), a check (an open question for the authority) or practical guidance (our advice, not a legal requirement).

1. Fix your timeline against the law. Official rule: covered individuals and entities have one year from the law’s entry into force to regularise their status, extendable by the Minister. Check: get the exact date from the Ministry of Sport in writing.
2. Ask how your activity is classified. Check: describe your concept to the Ministry of Sport – reformer and mat classes, private sessions, any courses – and ask which licence, approvals and staff qualifications apply.
3. Test the business case before signing a lease. Practical guidance: run a Pilates studio feasibility study covering catchment, demand, rent and break-even. Do not commit to premises until you know they can be licensed for a sports activity.
4. Register the business and the premises. Check: confirm commercial registration with the Ministry of Commerce and the premises licence with your municipality (Balady); we have not verified these procedures.
5. Plan equipment and layout. Practical guidance: size the room around your class format. Our guide on how many reformers a Pilates studio needs shows how capacity, timetable and revenue connect.
6. Recruit and qualify your team. Check: as far as we could verify, instructor licensing is still a draft. Practical guidance: keep every instructor’s certificates and training records, and leave time for any licensing step the final rules add. See hiring and training Pilates instructors.
7. Set prices and memberships. Practical guidance: base pricing on real capacity and costs; our guide to Pilates studio pricing and membership models walks through the options.
8. Re-check before opening. Practical guidance: rules under a new law can change quickly. Re-confirm each requirement shortly before you open and diarise the end of the compliance period.

Do Pilates instructors need a licence in Saudi Arabia?

We cannot give a definitive answer yet. By its title, the Ministry of Sport’s draft regulation deals with licences for sports professionals and the accreditation of training programmes. We could not read it or confirm whether it is in force, so we do not know how it applies to Pilates instructors.

Until the final rules are clear, treat any instructor certificate – local or international – as evidence of training, not as permission to work. A Code Pilates Academy certificate is a private professional-development qualification. It is not a Saudi government licence to practise, and it does not authorise anyone to open a sports facility.

What if you want to run instructor courses in your studio?

TVTC licenses private training facilities. Its “certified trainer licence outside a training facility” is limited to Saudi nationals and to developmental courses of no more than one month and 60 training hours, and is valid for two years. Its terms do not mention sports or Pilates, so ask TVTC and the Ministry of Sport before advertising a course.

Checklist: what should you confirm before you sign?

• Written confirmation from the Ministry of Sport of how a Pilates studio is classified and which licence it needs
• The entry-into-force date of the Sports Law and your compliance deadline
• Whether the instructor-licensing regulation has been adopted, and what it requires from each instructor
• Commercial registration requirements (Ministry of Commerce)
• Municipal licensing requirements for the premises (Balady)
• That the premises can be licensed for a sports activity – before you sign the lease
• If you will run courses: whether TVTC, the Ministry of Sport or both must approve them
• A feasibility study and a pricing model based on real capacity and costs

How can Code Pilates help with a studio in Saudi Arabia?

Code Pilates Academy’s Pilates studio consultancy is led by founder Barış Özdemir. We work on the practical side – concept, feasibility, layout, equipment, pricing and team training – not on licences or legal opinions, which belong with the Ministry of Sport and a licensed adviser.

To build your instructor team, our Pilates teacher training in Dubai runs in English, alongside live online sessions. The Comprehensive pathway is 520 hours and starts with MAT 1 + Movement Foundations (24 hours). Entry requires age 18+ and a high-school diploma, and a written and practical final exam (pass mark 70) follows the modules. Our Mat and Comprehensive pathways are listed in the NPCP School Directory as a Verified Teacher Training Program (Ref. 16471).

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Umm Al-Qura – Royal Decree No. M/121 (10/6/1447H) approving the Sports Law (6 October 2026)
• Umm Al-Qura – Council of Ministers Resolution No. 414 (4/6/1447H) approving the draft Sports Law (6 October 2026)
• Istitlaa – Ministry of Sport draft regulation on licences for sports professionals and accreditation of sports training and professional programmes (title and page confirmed; content not accessible) (6 October 2026)
• TVTC – terms and conditions: certified trainer licence outside a training facility (6 October 2026)