Poles holding a sporting event for Arab (7)
I believe the answer is:
saracen
'arab' is the definition.
(Saracen is an example)
'poles holding a sporting event' is the wordplay.
'poles' becomes 'sn' (North and South poles).
'holding' is an insertion indicator.
'sporting event' becomes 'race'.
'a'+'race'='arace'
'sn' enclosing 'arace' is 'SARACEN'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for saracen that I've seen before include "Arab (opposing the Crusaders)" , "Arab or Muslim at time of the Crusades" , "Arab fighting the Crusades" , "Crusader's foe" , "Muslim opposing the Crusades" .)