The Dakar Rally has been moved out of Saudi Arabia for its 2027 edition because of “recent developments in the region”, organisers have announced.
The off-road race, scheduled for January, will take place in an alternative territory yet to be confirmed. The Amaury Sport Organisation and Saudi Motorsport Company said the new location would be announced in the coming days.
Organisers said they intend to return the event to Saudi Arabia in 2028, when it is due to celebrate its 50th edition.
Saudi Arabia has hosted the Dakar Rally since 2020, but specialist race media have reported that Morocco or Spain could be considered for next year’s route.
A move to Morocco would take the rally back to Africa for the first time since 2007. The event began as a race from Paris to Senegal’s capital, Dakar, before security concerns in North Africa led to its cancellation at short notice in 2008. It was subsequently held in South America and then Saudi Arabia.
The decision comes amid a series of sporting changes in the region. This season’s Formula One race in Jeddah was cancelled, while the Bahrain Grand Prix was called off and later rescheduled under the same name in Malaysia.
The final round of the World Rally Championship in Saudi Arabia next month has also been scrapped. An exhibition tennis tournament featuring Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev has been postponed until late December, while the WTA Finals have been moved from Riyadh to Indian Wells, California.
The final two Formula One races in Qatar on November 29 and Abu Dhabi on December 6 remain on the calendar, as does next month’s Qatar MotoGP, although both are the subject of internal debate.
Dakar organisers had hoped to keep the 2027 race in Saudi Arabia by creating a new route in the north of the country. However, recent strikes, including attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month that killed 18 people and injured hundreds, made that plan impossible.
Fighting between government forces and Houthi fighters has intensified across several fronts in Yemen in recent weeks. The conflict escalated after Houthi forces seized strategic territory from troops loyal to Yemen’s internationally recognised government along the Red Sea coast.
Saudi Arabia leads a coalition supporting Yemen’s government forces. The attacks have disrupted businesses, airlines and daily life in the kingdom, while also damaging its international image.
