Amaury Sport Organisation swaps 2027 Dakar Rally host for 2028 Saudi return

The 2027 Dakar Rally will no longer be held in Saudi Arabia.

The Amaury Sport Organisation and the Saudi Motorsport Company announced the change on Sunday, stating the event will take place in a different territory. The new host location is expected to be named in the coming days. The two bodies confirmed that the rally will return to Saudi Arabia in 2028, a date chosen to mark the event's 50th running.

The decision follows a series of attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month, which killed 18 people and injured hundreds. Organizers had previously designed a new route in northern Saudi Arabia to keep the 2027 race in the country. The latest strikes made that plan unviable. Specialist race media report that Morocco and Spain are under consideration as replacements. A move to Morocco would bring the race back to Africa for the first time since 2007.

The Dakar has been hosted by Saudi Arabia since 2020. Before that, the race moved to South America after being called off in 2008 due to security concerns in North Africa. The event originated as a race from Paris to Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

The Dakar is the latest major sporting event to be affected by the US-Israel war on Iran and Houthi attacks on the kingdom. The Formula One grand prix in Jeddah was cancelled, and the Bahrain race was moved to Malaysia. The final round of the World Rally Championship in Saudi Arabia next month has also been scrapped.

Other events in the region have faced changes as well. An exhibition tennis event featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, and Alexander Zverev has been postponed to late December. The WTA Finals, originally planned for Riyadh, will now be held at Indian Wells, California.

The final two Formula One races of the season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi remain on the calendar. The Qatar MotoGP event next month is also still scheduled. These races are reportedly the subject of internal debate. In Yemen, fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters has intensified, with the Houthis seizing strategic territory along the Red Sea coast last month. Saudi Arabia leads the coalition backing the Yemeni government forces, and the attacks have disrupted businesses and damaged the kingdom's international image.