The 2027 Dakar Rally has been moved out of Saudi Arabia due to ongoing regional conflict, event organizers announced. The off-road endurance race, scheduled for January, will now be held in an alternate location before returning to the kingdom in 2028.
In a joint statement released on Sunday, the Amaury Sport Organisation and the Saudi Motorsport Company confirmed that the race will take place in a different territory, with the specific venue to be disclosed in the coming days. Media reports in motorsport publications indicate that organizers are considering Morocco or Spain as replacement hosts. If selected, a move to Morocco would mark the rally's first leg in Africa since 2007. Originally established as a trek from Paris to Dakar, Senegal, the event was canceled on short notice in 2008 due to security threats in North Africa, after which it relocated to South America and subsequently to Saudi Arabia in 2020. Organizers stated they still plan to bring the competition back to Saudi Arabia in 2028 for its 50th edition.
The decision to relocate follows a series of military escalations in the region, including the U.S.-Israel war on Iran and repeated attacks targeted at Saudi Arabia by Yemen's Houthi movement. Organizers had initially attempted to keep the 2027 route within Saudi Arabia by designing a new course in the northern part of the country. However, recent strikes made the plan unviable, notably an attack on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh this month that killed 18 people and injured hundreds more.
The Dakar Rally is the latest in a series of major sporting events in Saudi Arabia and the wider region to face cancellation or relocation. This season's Formula One Grand Prix in Jeddah was canceled, while the race in Bahrain was called off and later rescheduled in Malaysia under the same event name. Next month's final round of the World Rally Championship in Saudi Arabia has also been scrapped. An exhibition tennis event featuring Novak
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