From Six Kings Slam to FIFAe finals, Saudi Arabia's events derailed by war

Saudi Arabia has canceled or postponed a slew of international events amid regional instability and escalating attacks by the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels on key infrastructure hubs across the kingdom.

The conflict intensified over the weekend, with Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s international airport on Saturday and Sunday killing 13 people and wounding more than 300. The attacks were the deadliest in Saudi Arabia in more than a decade and forced the kingdom’s second-biggest airport to close until at least Oct. 17.

The disruption has hit some of Saudi Arabia’s flagship events across sectors central to its Vision 2030 program, which aims to diversify the economy away from oil.

Politics

A summit involving EU and Gulf political leaders scheduled to be held in Riyadh on Oct. 24 was postponed on Thursday due to Houthi threats and the suspension of flights at the capital's King Khalid International Airport. All 27 EU leaders had been scheduled to attend.

The GCC General Secretariat confirmed the postponement in a statement on Thursday but did not announce a new date for the summit.

Esports

On Wednesday, FIFA and the Saudi Esports Federation postponed the FIFAe Finals 2026 scheduled to take ​place in Jeddah on Oct. 16-25.

"The decision follows an ⁠assessment of recent developments in the region and their impact ​on the logistical arrangements required to stage the tournament," organizers of the ​global video game tournament said in a statement.

"Further announcements on the FIFAe Finals will be communicated in due course."

The FIFAe Finals were due to cap what FIFA described as the largest football esports season in history, with around 120 member associations participating in qualifying. 

Brazil and Japan withdrew their national esports teams on Oct. 10, citing security concerns following the deadly Houthi attacks.

Sports

The Six Kings Slam tennis tournament, originally scheduled for Oct. 21-24, was pushed back to Dec. 27-30, the organizers said Wednesday.

"The decision reflects Riyadh Season's commitment to delivering sporting events to the highest standards, following an assessment of the organizational and logistical challenges associated with hosting the tournament and their potential impact on the quality of the audience experience," organizers said in a statement.

The high-profile exhibition tennis tournament was due to feature tennis stars Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.

The Formula 1 race was another major sporting event canceled in Saudi Arabia. Motorsport's governing body, the FIA, said in a September statement that it had canceled the Saudi Arabian race, which was due to take place on Nov. 12-15 in Jeddah, due to "ongoing regional developments."

Music and film

The Red Sea International Film Festival, originally scheduled for December, was postponed to the fourth quarter of 2027.

The Red Sea Film Foundation announced on Sept. 21, nearly seven months into the US and Israeli war against Iran, that the event would be postponed following a “review of a range of considerations relating to the timing of the next edition, including the logistical requirements involved in staging an international event of this scale.”

On Oct. 4, Reuters reported that the next edition of the Joy Awards, Saudi Arabia’s equivalent to the Oscars or the Grammys, had been postponed as financial strain and the Iran war hit the country’s entertainment sector, according to two people familiar with the talks.

The awards, which span entertainment, music and sports, were due to be held in January 2027. This year’s ceremony featured international stars, including Katy Perry and Robbie Williams.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s major electronic music festival, Soundstorm, was canceled in early October. Organizer MDLBEAST said in a statement at the time that the festival would return in 2027. MDLBEAST did not say whether the cancellation was related to the escalating attacks.

The lineup had not been announced before the cancellation, but the 2025 edition featured Cardi B, Pitbull, Swedish House Mafia and Young Thug.

Other affected events

Semafor reported on Wednesday that Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund was preparing to inform organizers of the 2034 men's FIFA World Cup that it planned to drop five new stadiums it had proposed for the tournament, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Public Investment Fund will likely narrow its focus to three stadiums as it cuts spending on some of its domestic investments. While the report did not provide a reason for the downscaling, the move comes against the backdrop of the Iran war's impact on the Saudi economy, which is expected to contract by 3.3% in 2026, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Other events going ahead in the kingdom have also faced disruption. The World Petroleum Council Energy Congress, held in Riyadh on Oct. 11-15, saw senior executives from BP, Chevron, Shell and TotalEnergies unable to attend because of travel disruptions.

The kingdom’s flagship investment summit, the Future Investment Initiative, remains scheduled for Oct. 26-29 in Riyadh. The event, nicknamed Davos in the Desert, is a crucial diplomatic and economic summit on the kingdom's annual calendar, attracting ministers and CEOs from the world's leading financial institutions and companies.

However, due to the Houthi attacks, organizers now plan to adopt a hybrid format, allowing executives and officials to participate remotely, Reuters reported Wednesday. 

The AFC Asian Cup remains scheduled for January 2027.

AFC President Salman bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa said Wednesday that he was in "no hurry to make a decision" on whether to postpone the tournament.

"We can wait until the end of November. Things can change very quickly for better or worse in the region, and it is a question of seeing what happens," he told reporters in Zurich, where the FIFA Council was convening.

"If we need to make a decision, then we will, but we could move back a year to 2028 if we need to. But at the moment we are monitoring the situation and everything is on schedule."

The Esports World Cup, which had been expected to take place in Riyadh this year, was instead held in Paris in August due to the instability surrounding the Iran war.