Sign in
We have a couple of big sports stories out this morning, including news that Saudi will host the FIA World Rally Championship, as well as the outcome of an important boxing match in Riyadh.
MOTORSPORTS-
Saudi Arabia will host an edition of the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) for 10 years starting 2025, which will mark the first time the tournament comes to the Kingdom, according to a statement from WRC. Next year’s Saudi edition of WRC will also mark the championship’s return to the Middle East after it was last held in Jordan in 2011, the statement notes.
What we know: The long-term agreement was struck at the Rally Italia Sardegna and will see Saudi host a championship round in WRC’s 12-rally calendar under the name “Saudi Rally,” reports state-run news agency SPA. This agreement is still subject to the approval of the FIA World Motor Sport Council. No financial details were made public, and it’s unclear whether the Saudi Rally will be an addition to the calendar or replace an existing one.
Saudi is becoming a motorsports hub, with the Kingdom now boasting a calendar that includes Formula 1, Formula E, Extreme E, the Dakar Rally, as well as the newly added WRC.
What they said: “It has been over a decade since the FIA World Rally Championship last visited the region,” said FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The championship will be a “great [chance] for national and regional drivers to showcase their talents on the world stage,” he said.
IN OTHER SPORTS NEWS-
Daniel Dubois secured the International Boxing Federation interim world heavyweight title, after he beat Croatia’s Filip Hrgovic in a fight that could become a world championship title if Oleksandr Usyk — Ukraine’s undisputed world champion — relinquishes his title or is stripped of it by the sanctioning body, reports ESPN.
The fight was part of the historic 5 vs 5 event held in Riyadh Season, which saw boxing’s two biggest promoters Eddie Hearn and Frank Warren face off their fighters yesterday. “Riyadh now is the capital of world boxing,” Warren told Arab News.
