SAFF & OMZZ: The Storytellers Who Started the Storm
Some storms are natural. Others are made.
Al Haboob — the first licensed camel racing team in the world — did not appear out of nowhere. It was shaped, willed, and driven into existence by two men who refused to let heritage remain hidden. Safwan Modir and Omar Almaeena, better known as SAFF & OMZZ, are the storytellers, actors, and entrepreneurs who looked at a centuries-old sport and saw not just the past, but a future waiting to be written.
Their story begins far from the racetrack. Safwan built his reputation in hospitality, becoming one of the youngest Saudis ever to manage a five-star hotel. Omar built his career in banking and venture capital, including early investments in Silicon Valley startups. Both were successful, respected, and settled in careers that could have kept them in the polished world of boardrooms, resorts, and finance. Yet both felt an absence — the pull of something bigger, something more rooted in culture than in commerce.
That pull led them to camels. At first, it seemed almost absurd: two urban Saudis walking away from established careers to enter one of the most traditional, closed-off worlds in the Gulf. Camel breeding and racing were industries defined by lineage, by tribes, by rules unspoken as much as written. Outsiders rarely entered, and when they did, they were rarely welcomed. But Safwan and Omar did not come to play small. They came to learn, to immerse themselves, and eventually, to reshape the story.
The early days were filled with challenges that bordered on comedy. Negotiating with seasoned breeders, struggling to understand bloodlines, and fumbling through the gritty routines of care and training — these moments became the raw material for something unexpected: a show. Camel Quest, a Netflix docu-series starring both founders, turned their trial-and-error learning curve into a narrative that resonated across the Middle East. It was funny, unfiltered, and, above all, real. In showing themselves as vulnerable outsiders daring to enter the arena, SAFF & OMZZ gave audiences something to relate to. For the first time, camel racing felt like it belonged not only to tribes and tradition, but to anyone who was curious enough to care.
But Camel Quest was just the beginning. What started as content became conviction. Safwan and Omar realized that camel racing, despite its centuries of heritage, had never been given the global stage it deserved. The speed was there. The spectacle was there. The passion was there. What was missing was the storytelling, the professionalism, and the modernity to make the sport resonate beyond the desert. Al Haboob was born out of that realization: not just a racing team, but a movement built on style, structure, and substance.
As founders, SAFF & OMZZ embody the duality at the heart of Al Haboob. They are deeply Saudi — proud of their heritage, committed to honoring the legacy of the sport. At the same time, they are global — fluent in English and French, shaped by experiences in Switzerland, Los Angeles, and Beirut, connected to international creative industries. This dual perspective allows them to act as cultural translators, taking camel racing from the sand tracks of the Gulf to the feeds of Gen Z in London, Paris, and New York.
Their presence is deliberate and essential. In every race activation, every media appearance, and every piece of content, the duo position themselves not just as founders, but as protagonists. They are the human face of a storm. One moment, Safwan might be joking with fans on Instagram; the next, Omar might be scripting a scene that frames the camels like Hollywood athletes. Together, they blur the line between sport and spectacle, making Al Haboob as much a cultural phenomenon as a racing team.
What makes their story powerful is not only ambition, but purpose. SAFF & OMZZ are not interested in spectacle for spectacle’s sake. They want camel racing to matter for generations to come. Their projects extend beyond entertainment into education and preservation. With the Camel Racing Heritage Lab, for example, they created a program designed to teach Saudi youth about breeds, bloodlines, and the cultural importance of the sport. It is not about going viral, but about going the distance — ensuring that young Saudis grow up not only knowing camel racing exists, but feeling connected to it.
This balance of heritage and hype is the foundation of Al Haboob’s identity. For the founders, it is not enough to build a winning team. They want Al Haboob to be the first thing that comes to mind when the world thinks of camel racing — not as a relic of tradition, but as a rising global sport.
In many ways, SAFF & OMZZ are as much performers as they are entrepreneurs. They understand the power of narrative, of being seen, of being remembered. They know that visibility is legacy, and legacy is influence. By putting themselves at the heart of the Al Haboob story, they invite audiences not just to watch the camels, but to follow their own journey — the vision, the hustle, the setbacks, and the breakthroughs.
Their approach is unapologetically modern. They lean into digital platforms, cinematic campaigns, and influencer collaborations. They treat each race not just as a competition, but as an episode in a larger cultural series. They bring humor when humor is needed, gravitas when gravitas is required, and always, a sense of spectacle.
Looking ahead, their ambitions stretch beyond the racetrack. Fashion collaborations, streaming documentaries, global cultural partnerships — all are on the horizon. For them, Al Haboob is not just about winning races, but about writing history. It is about turning a storm into a symbol: of Saudi pride, of Arab identity, of a new generation unafraid to merge heritage with modernity.
Some storms fade. Others rise and reshape everything in their path. SAFF & OMZZ are the storytellers who gave this storm its name. And as long as they are telling it, the world will not only hear it — it will feel it.
