"A challenge for those who leave. A dream for those who stay. " Forty-three years later, the motto imagined by Thierry Sabine when creating the Paris-Dakar is more relevant than ever, according to his new hosts. After touring Africa for twenty-nine years and then South America in eleven editions, the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) rally-raid sets its scene in the Gulf.
From January 5 to 17, the first edition in Saudi Arabia will take the 351 participants from the shores of the Red Sea to mountainous terrain in the north, from the rocks of the Al-Ula valley to the inhospitable desert of the Empty Quarter in the south , one of the largest expanses of sand in the world. "In the DNA of the Dakar, there has always been the discovery of new territories and populations. It’s an unequaled sports ground ", explains Yann Le Moenner, CEO of ASO.
By signing a five-year lease to host the queen rally-raid race on its soil, Riyadh is gaining sports credibility. And puts the eraser all over the place. From January 8 to 12, Djedda will host the Spanish Football Super Cup (semi-final and final), with Real Madrid and FC Barcelona in particular, after that of Italy, organized three weeks earlier. Next will be a golf tournament, the Saudi International (from January 30 to February 2), then the Saudi Tour (from February 4 to 8), a new cycling event launched by ASO, and finally, on February 29, the Saudi Cup, race horse.
At the end of 2019, Formula Electric racing cars had crisscrossed the streets of Diriyah, in the suburbs of the capital, the scene of the revenge of the British boxer Anthony Joshua on the American Andy Ruiz Jr in an ephemeral enclosure which was then used to a tennis exhibition which included Stan Wawrinka, Daniil Medvedev, Lucas Pouille and Gaël Monfils.
"To show a more positive showcase"
Failing to see its athletes shine – 3 Olympic medals in eleven participations, none in gold -, Riyadh wants to catch up on the United Arab Emirates and, above all, Qatar, the hated neighbor with whom it suspended, in June 2017, his diplomatic and commercial relations, accusing him of "Support terrorism".
"If a few years ago, it was incongruous to associate sport with Saudi Arabia, this investment is increasingly being anchored, with" big hits ", Carole Gomez, a researcher in sports geopolitics at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations, notes. Behind it, there is a desire to diversify the economy, very much linked to the energy windfall. And the desire to show a more positive international showcase. "
