Dakar Rally 2027 Leaves Saudi Arabia Amid Regional Conflict

The 2027 Dakar Rally will no longer be held in Saudi Arabia, according to an announcement made on Sunday. The Amaury Sport Organisation and the Saudi Motorsport Company stated that recent regional developments necessitated a change of venue. The new location will be disclosed in the coming days, with the event scheduled to take place in January.

The two organizations confirmed that the rally is expected to return to Saudi Arabia in 2028. Organizers aim for the 2028 edition to coincide with the 50th running of the competition. The rally has been hosted in the kingdom since 2020. Specialist race media reports indicate that Morocco and Spain are among the potential replacements. A move to Morocco would mark the first return of the event to Africa since 2007.

The decision follows a series of strikes that disrupted plans for a new route in northern Saudi Arabia. These attacks included a series of incidents this month at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. The strikes killed 18 people and injured hundreds of others. The Dakar Rally began as a race from Paris to Dakar, Senegal. It was cancelled in 2008 due to security concerns in North Africa before moving to South America and then to Saudi Arabia.

The rally is the latest major sporting event to be removed from Saudi Arabia this year. The cancellation follows the US-Israel war on Iran and deadly attacks by Houthi forces on the kingdom. The Formula One grand prix in Jeddah was cancelled, while the Bahrain race was rescheduled to Malaysia under the same name. The final round of the World Rally Championship in Saudi Arabia, scheduled for next month, has also been scrapped.

An exhibition tennis event in Saudi Arabia that was to feature Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev has been postponed until late December. The WTA Finals, originally planned for Riyadh next month, will instead be held in Indian Wells, California. The final two Formula One races of the season remain on the calendar. These events are scheduled for Qatar on November 29 and Abu Dhabi on December 6. The Qatar MotoGP race next month also remains scheduled.

Fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters in Yemen has intensified in recent weeks. The conflict escalated last month when Houthi forces seized strategic territory along the Red Sea coast. Saudi Arabia leads a coalition supporting the Yemeni government forces. The Houthi attacks have disrupted businesses, airlines, and daily life in the kingdom, which is the world's largest crude oil exporter.