Rally Leaves Kingdom After Attacks

The 2027 Dakar Rally will not run through Saudi Arabian desert sands this January. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the Saudi Motorsport Company announced the change on Sunday, citing recent regional developments. The two bodies stated the event will move to a different territory, with the specific location to be revealed in the coming days. They confirmed a return to the kingdom is planned for 2028, a date organizers want to mark as the rally's 50th running.

Saudi Arabia has hosted the demanding off-road race since 2020. Organizers initially hoped to keep the 2027 edition in the kingdom by designing a new route in the northern part of the country. That plan collapsed following a series of attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh earlier this month. Those strikes killed 18 people and injured hundreds more. Specialist race media report that Morocco and Spain are under consideration as replacements. A move to Morocco would return the event to Africa for the first time since 2007.

The Dakar race began as a trip from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. It was canceled in 2008 due to security concerns in North Africa before moving to South America and then to Saudi Arabia. The recent shift is part of a wider pattern of sporting events leaving the region. The Formula One grand prix in Jeddah was canceled, and the Bahrain race was rescheduled as the Malaysian round. The final round of the World Rally Championship in Saudi Arabia next month has also been scrapped.

Tennis events face similar disruptions. An exhibition event featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev has been postponed to late December. The WTA Finals, originally planned for Riyadh next month, will instead take place in Indian Wells, California. Meanwhile, the final two Formula One races of the season remain on the calendar. Those events are scheduled for Qatar on November 29 and Abu Dhabi on December 6. The Qatar MotoGP race next month is also still listed, though all three are reportedly subjects of intense internal debate.

The changes reflect the impact of the US-Israel war on Iran and deadly Houthi attacks on the kingdom. In Yemen, fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters has intensified on several fronts in recent weeks. The conflict deepened a humanitarian crisis after the Houthis seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition backing the Yemeni government forces. The Houthi attacks have disrupted businesses, airlines, and daily life in the world's largest crude oil exporter.