The Wanderer: Mayor Suarez Photobombs Esports World Cup in Saudi Arabia

He's the type of guy who will never settle down: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez popped up on Sunday, August 25, at the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Screenshot via Esports World Cup/YouTube

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Early Saturday evening, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez posted an Instagram story set to a smooth-jazz soundtrack: sailboats boats moored at a marina with against a nearly cloudless sky with the Miami skyline in the distance.

A cute cursive caption read, "Miami afternoons never disappoint."

click to enlarge

Miami afternoons never disappoint — but they don't hold a candle to esports in Riyadh!

Screenshot via @francissuarez/Instagram

And indeed, what Miamian doesn't love a quiet weekend at the tail end of August, when the tourists are elsewhere and the locals have the town to ourselves?

Mayor Suarez, as it turns out.

Today he turned up 7,500 miles east of Miami at the closing ceremony of the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In the front row, no less, just a few comfy, padded armchairs down from Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne.

(Check out the photo at the top of this story and judge for yourself if that's Our Mayor or an uncanny Middle Eastern dopplegänger. Go ahead, we'll wait.)

Miamians have come to know Hizzoner as the type of guy who will never settle down. You know, a wanderer. From Qatar to Tokyo to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee (undeterred by a failed presidential bid), he roams around, around, around.

As always, here at New Times we wonder how much it cost to fly our wandering mayor there and back, and how big an entourage he took with him, and who footed the bill.

Also, what was he doing there?

As we mull that over, we'll note that earlier this week, Riyadh also played host to the New Global Sports Conference, which "showcased Saudi Arabia’s potential as an esports hub," per Riyadh-based publication Arab News.

Of course, there's the matter of Suarez's relationship with Saudi Arabia — a nation notorious for state-sponsored sportswashing — the practice of using athletes to gloss over unethical behavior.

But Miami's mayor has shown a personal interest in esports. His cousin, Steve Suarez, is CEO of Miami-based Ultimate Gamer, which, per its LinkedIn page, "revolutionizes eSports with its premier global events and content." Or hoped to, anyway — as of 2023, the company is no longer active according to the Florida Division of Corporations, and its website, ultimategamer.com, now redirects to the site for a betting app called ZenSports.

This is a breaking story and will be updated as events warrant.