18 Killed in Riyadh Strikes as Dakar Rally 2027 Leaves Saudi Arabia
Organizers moved the January off-road race to an undisclosed location after airport attacks killed 18 people and injured hundreds.
By Fatima Mansour ·
Eighteen people died in a series of attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month. The strikes also injured hundreds more. These events led organizers to pull the 2027 Dakar Rally from Saudi Arabia.
The Amaury Sport Organisation and the Saudi Motorsport Company announced the change on Sunday. They cited recent developments in the region as the reason. The two groups said the race will be staged in a different territory. The new location will be revealed in the coming days.
The rally is scheduled for January. Saudi Arabia has hosted the event since 2020. Organizers initially hoped to keep the 2027 race in the kingdom by designing a new route in the north. The latest strikes made that plan impossible.
Specialist race media reported that Morocco and Spain are under consideration as replacements. A move to Morocco would bring the event back to Africa for the first time since 2007. The race began as a journey from Paris to Dakar, the capital of Senegal. It was called off in 2008 due to security concerns in North Africa. It later moved to South America before arriving in Saudi Arabia.
Organizers confirmed a planned return to Saudi Arabia in 2028. They want that edition to mark the rally's 50th running. The Dakar is the latest sporting event to leave the kingdom this year. The US-Israel war on Iran and deadly Houthi attacks have disrupted the region.
The Formula One grand prix in Jeddah was cancelled. The Bahrain race was called off and rescheduled in Malaysia. The final round of the World Rally Championship in Saudi Arabia next month has also been scrapped. An exhibition tennis event featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev was postponed until late December.
The WTA Finals, originally planned for Riyadh next month, will now be played at Indian Wells in California. The final two Formula One races of the season remain on the calendar. They take place in Qatar on November 29 and Abu Dhabi on December 6. Next month's Qatar MotoGP is also scheduled. All three events are reportedly the subject of intense internal debate.
Source: Al Jazeera
