Houthi rebels claim to have shot down a British sourced, Saudi Typhoon fighter, in a new escalation of the Middle East conflict.
If confirmed, the escalation puts more pressure on sports events scheduled in Saudi Arabia and the UAE over the final months of the year.
Formula 1 has already moved the Grand Prix scheduled for Bahrain, to the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia due to the conflict in the Middle East, and is believed to have placed Imola, Italy on standby if the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi GP, (4-6 Dec) event also needs to be relocated.
The Six Kings tennis event, due to start next week in Saudi Arabia, has been postponed following several recent Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport, with 13 people killed and many more injured.
And sailing’s World Match Racing Tour has postponed its Final season events at the AMAALA YC, located on Saudi Arabia’s northwestern Red Sea coast, to January 2027.
The next major sailing events scheduled in the area are the SailGP Dubai and Abu Dhabi season ending events, over the 21-22 and 28-29 November.
Both Formula 1 and SailGP are confident that their remaining 2026 events in the area will go ahead as planned.
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