The “Amore Sport” organization and the Saudi Motor Sports Company announced, in a joint statement, that the 2027 Saudi Dakar Rally will not be held in the Kingdom, which was scheduled to be organized during the period from January 1 to 15, 2027, provided that the “Amore Sport” organization will organize the edition in another country, the location of which will be determined later.
The exceptional decision came after joint coordination between the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, with the support of the International Automobile Federation and the International Motorcycle Federation, in light of the current developments in the region.
The statement confirmed that the Kingdom will host the 2028 Dakar Rally, which is considered an exceptional edition in the historic and ancient race, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of its launch.
Saudi Arabia has hosted 7 consecutive editions of the Dakar Rally since 2020, with the participation of racers from all over the world, along tracks that reflected the unique geographical diversity of the Kingdom.
Hosting the rally over the past years contributed to consolidating a strong and long-term strategic partnership between the “Amore Sport” organization, the Saudi Motor Sports Company, and the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation.
The three parties affirmed their commitment to continuing cooperation, developing motor sports in the Kingdom, and providing distinguished experiences for competitors, teams and fans.
German Jens Vissing, coach of Al-Ittihad, stressed the importance of achieving victory over Neftchi of Uzbekistan, on Monday, in the third round of the AFC Champions League for the elite, to compensate for the points that the team lost in the past two rounds, explaining that the pressure of matches requires rotating players and making changes to the lineup in proportion to the technical requirements of each match.
Vissing said, during the pre-match press conference: “The playing style we adopt requires rotation between players to help them adapt to the technical requirements of each match, and the atmosphere will not be an obstacle to us; “It is a natural thing that we have to deal with, focusing on achieving victory.”
He added: “We seek to win tomorrow’s match to make up for the points we lost in the past two matches and continue our journey in the tournament.”
The German coach praised the level of Uzbekistan's Nefichi, explaining that it is a good team that leads the local league in his country, and offers distinguished levels, in addition to possessing clear offensive effectiveness, which requires Al-Ittihad to deal with the confrontation with great focus.
For his part, Serbian Predrag Rajkovic, Al-Ittihad goalkeeper, confirmed that the team is working to adapt to the pressure of matches, and to raise its physical and technical readiness, in an effort to regain its level and achieve positive results in the continental championship.
Rajkovic said: “Our start to the tournament was not at the level we hoped for, and we will work to make tomorrow’s match our real start.”
Italian Giovanni Solinas, coach of Al-Faisaly, stressed the difficulty of the confrontation awaiting his team against Abha, in the postponed match of the eighth round, stressing that the closeness of points between the two teams will give the match great importance in the race to improve positions.
Solinas said, during the press conference preceding the confrontation: “Abha is a strong and difficult team, and despite some absences and injuries in its ranks, it has a very good group of players and an experienced coach, and therefore we will enter the match with all our energy and focus, especially since it may change the two teams’ positions and their position in the standings.”
He added: “We realize that Abha will play the match on its home soil and among its fans, and will seek to achieve a positive result that will be the beginning of its path towards collecting more points.”
In response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about the possibility of Al-Faisaly exploiting the decline in Abha’s results, which is in last place with two points from two draws, without achieving any victory, Solinas said: “I respect all teams, and I do not deal with any competitor as weak or strong, and I always strive to be humble in dealing with everyone.”
He continued: “The work I presented against the big teams such as Al-Hilal, Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Ittihad, Al-Shabab and Al-Nasr, I will present it in the same way against Abha, as it is a team that deserves respect, and we must continue the same approach against all competitors.”
The Al-Faisaly coach concluded his speech by emphasizing that the closeness in points between the two teams will make the confrontation more difficult and competitive, as each of them seeks to achieve a positive result and improve its position in the ranking table.
