Dakar Rally Leaves Saudi Arabia as Conflict Shifts Sport

The 2027 Dakar Rally will not run in Saudi Arabia after attacks on the kingdom and amid the wider US-Iran war, organizers Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) and Saudi Motorsport Company (SMC) said Sunday. The race, scheduled for January 1 to 15, 2027, will move to an unconfirmed territory. Organizers called the decision “exceptional and one-off” and said the rally would return to Saudi Arabia in 2028 for its 50th edition.

Routes Set by Security

The move puts a sporting calendar under the pressure of conflict and military threats. Gulf News reported that organizers had considered a new route in northern Saudi Arabia, but recent attacks made that plan impossible. Among them was an attack targeting Riyadh airport this month that reportedly killed 13 people and injured hundreds.

The attacks came amid the wider US-Iran war, which erupted in February, and followed attacks on the kingdom by Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels. AP described the Dakar relocation as part of a series of sports events moved from Saudi Arabia this year amid the Iran war and deadly Houthi strikes. Gulf News reported that Houthi attacks on Saudi civilian infrastructure had reached an unprecedented scale in recent weeks since the conflict in Yemen began in 2014.

The organizers have named no replacement territory. AP said Morocco had been reported as under consideration, while Gulf News cited specialist media reports that the preferred option was to start in Spain and finish in Morocco. Those remain reports, not a confirmed route.

A Rally Repeatedly Displaced

The Dakar Rally has been held in Saudi Arabia since 2020. Before that, the event’s route and host territory changed as security concerns reshaped where organizers could stage it. It began in 1978 as a competition from Paris to Senegal's capital, Dakar, and was formerly known as the Paris-Dakar Rally.

Security threats along its North African route prompted a move to South America in 2009. The 2008 event had been canceled at short notice over security concerns in North Africa. If the rally returns to Africa, it would be the first time since 2007. The latest relocation is described by organizers as temporary; their announced plan is to return to Saudi Arabia in 2028.

Sporting Calendars, Under Pressure

The Dakar is not the only event affected. Golf's Asian Tour postponed the Saudi International indefinitely, cycling's Urban World Championships was canceled earlier this month, and the tennis tournament Six Kings Slam was postponed to December, The New Arab reported.

Gulf News said the Formula One Grand Prix in Jeddah was canceled, the Bahrain race was called off and later rescheduled under the same name in Malaysia, and the final round of the World Rally Championship scheduled in Saudi Arabia next month was scrapped. An exhibition tennis tournament featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev was postponed until late December. The WTA Finals, scheduled in Riyadh next month, will instead be held at Indian Wells in the United States.

At the time of Gulf News's report, the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Formula One races, scheduled for November 29 and December 6, respectively, remained on the calendar, as did next month's Qatar MotoGP event, though both were reportedly under internal discussion. The World Rally Championship also dropped Saudi Arabia from its calendar, The New Arab said. Organizers can move a race; people living under the attacks and the war don't get to redraw the route.