Multiple sports tournaments across the world, especially in the Gulf countries, have been hit by uncertainty at one of the busiest times of the year in the global sports calendar as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East rages on across the region.<\/p>\n
When the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday and killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and several military bases in the Middle East where US forces operate.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Iranian missiles and drones have repeatedly targeted Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama \u2060and various parts of Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n The ensuing conflict threw sports in the region and around the world into chaos, forcing the cancellation of several tournaments and the suspension of leagues, leaving athletes wondering what comes next.<\/p>\n Sports organisations and event organisers have scrambled to keep athletes, officials and fans safe from the attacks and their repercussions.<\/p>\n A tennis tournament in the United Arab Emirates was at the centre of the storm on Tuesday, when the ATP Challenger-level event in Fujairah was brought to a halt as falling debris from a drone interception ignited a fire at an oilfield approximately 13km (8 miles) away.<\/p>\n Two players \u2013 Belarusian Daniil Ostapenkov and Japan\u2019s Hayato Matsuoka, who were on court in the middle of their match \u2013 were seen scrambling for shelter in videos posted on social media.<\/p>\n \u201cI just finished my match in Fujairah, second round, but the play is suspended for today,\u201d Ukrainian player Vladyslav Orlov said on Instagram.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I was playing, I heard the sound of the jets flying here and there. And there is smoke here, next to the mountain, so not very safe here right now.\u201d<\/p>\n The tournament was subsequently cancelled, and an initial email sent to players from the Professional Tennis Players Association appeared to float the idea of a one-way charter flight home at the cost of $5,800 each.<\/p>\n There was no indication of how the players responded. But later, Belarusian player Ilya Ivashka wrote on Instagram: \u201cJust got confirmation that all the people from the tournament in Fujairah will be evacuated with no cost. Everything completely covered. Class act @atptour.\u201d<\/p>\n The region\u2019s most popular sport, football, has also faced disruption.<\/p>\n The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced on Wednesday that next week\u2019s Asian Champions League matches scheduled in the Middle East had been postponed until further notice.<\/p>\n \u201cThe AFC\u2019s priority remains the safety and security of all stakeholders including players, teams, officials, partners and fans and we are steadfast in our commitment to ensuring a secure environment for all,\u201d the continental body said in a statement.<\/p>\n Earlier this week, the Qatar Football Association also suspended all matches in the country.<\/p>\n Qatar was also scheduled to host the Finalissima football match between Argentina and Spain this month, but European football body UEFA has said a decision on whether \u2013 and where \u2013\u00a0it will be played \u2060will not be taken until the end of next week.<\/p>\n The showpiece game between the Copa America holders and European \u2060champions had been scheduled for March 27 at Lusail Stadium in Doha, where Lionel Messi\u2019s team lifted the FIFA World Cup trophy in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cDiscussions are ongoing with the local organisers, who have made a tremendous effort to ensure the match is a success. A final decision is expected \u2060by the end of next week. At this stage, no \u2060alternative venue is being considered,\u201d UEFA said in a statement to Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n In addition to the effect on ongoing and immediate tournaments, Iran\u2019s participation in the FIFA World Cup 2026 remains in doubt.<\/p>\n It also remains unclear whether Iraq will be able to travel for their playoff game, which could see them seal a spot for the June 11-July 19 tournament cohosted by Canada, Mexico and the US.<\/p>\n Iran are scheduled to play the winners of an earlier tie between Bolivia and Suriname in Mexico on March 31.<\/p>\n Qatar\u2019s hosting of the opening race of motorsport\u2019s World Endurance Championship (WEC) has also been pushed back to later this year.<\/p>\n The 1,812km (1,126 miles) race had been scheduled for March 26 to 28 at \u2060the Lusail International Circuit, which is also used by MotoGP and Formula One.<\/p>\n \u201cWith the safety and security of competitors, personnel and fans of the utmost importance, the decision has been taken to delay the event,\u201d the WEC said in a statement.<\/p>\n The new Formula One season, which begins at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday, faced logistical difficulties as teams were forced to charter flights to get hundreds of essential personnel to Melbourne before Sunday\u2019s race.<\/p>\n A quarter of the F1 workforce was due to travel through the Middle East hubs for the Grand Prix, according to several reports.<\/p>\n The races will move to the Gulf in April, with Bahrain and Saudi Arabia hosting their Grands Prix in Sakhir and Jeddah, respectively.<\/p>\n The Jeddah circuit \u2013 located on the Jeddah waterfront \u2013 has dealt with a major security issue in the past.<\/p>\n In 2022, days before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, an oil storage facility 11km (7 miles) from the circuit was hit by a drone and missile attack by the Houthis. Smoke could be seen billowing from the circuit as drivers, teams and F1 organisers held an emergency meeting before eventually going ahead with the race.<\/p>\n The race will come under scrutiny once again, but Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who heads the global motorsport governing body FIA, has said safety will be their main concern when making a decision on whether those races go ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe FIA continues to monitor developments across the region and our thoughts remain with all those affected by these recent events as we hope for calm, safety and a return to stability,\u201d he said in a statement on Monday.<\/p>\n Both races had already sold out all grandstand tickets in the week before the conflict started, with rescheduling them to later dates another logistical nightmare for the organisers.<\/p>\n \u201cWith 40 days to the race, it is too early to assess the impact that the regional situation may or may not have on the race weekend,\u201d the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) authorities said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom an operational perspective, BIC continues its planning \u200cfor the race weekend and our dedicated team and offices at the circuit are working to that effect.\u201d<\/p>\n Formula One is liaising closely with local authorities, as well as the British Foreign Office and the US State Department.<\/p>\n The Gulf region acts as a major air transport hub, linking the East to the West with millions of passengers transiting through airports in Doha, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. But with much of its airspace currently closed, the future of sporting events outside the region has also been thrown into doubt.<\/p>\n Travel disruption has rippled further afield, with some athletes, teams and officials left stranded and unable to travel to competitions or back home.<\/p>\n India\u2019s two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu withdrew from badminton\u2019s All England Open after being stranded for days at Dubai airport and eventually returning home on\u00a0Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cBack home in Bangalore and safe. The last few days have been intense and uncertain, but I\u2019m truly grateful to be back to my house,\u201d Sindhu wrote on X, using the old name of the south Indian city of Bengaluru.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, cricket teams that were recently eliminated from the ongoing ICC Men\u2019s T20 World Cup have also faced delays in returning home from India, which is cohosting the tournament with Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n Zimbabwe, the West Indies and South Africa exited the tournament this week, but have been stuck in India due to the suspension of flights via the Middle East.<\/p>\n Some members of the Zimbabwean team were able to leave on Wednesday, three days after their last match, but the other two teams remain in India.<\/p>\n West Indies coach Darren Sammy took to social media to express his frustration, indicating that his squad had not received an update on their travel home for five days. His post earlier on Thursday said: \u201cI just wanna go home\u201d. However, he later posted: \u201cGot an update. That\u2019s all WI wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n South Africa\u2019s elimination came late on Wednesday, when they lost the first semifinal to New Zealand.<\/p>\n England, who face India in the second semifinal on Thursday, could also face a similar fate should they lose.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Multiple sports tournaments across the world, especially in the Gulf countries, have been hit by uncertainty at one of the busiest times of the year in the global sports calendar as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East rages on across the region. When the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday and killed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14031,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14030\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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