It has been 34 days since the Iran war began. While much of the media attention has focused on global energy security, it is not the only sector impacted by the war. The sporting world has been hit equally hard.
So far, more than 100 events across disciplines have been canceled or postponed in the Gulf since the outbreak of the war, underlining the scale of disruption, with athletes stranded as airspaces across the Middle East remain shut.
The episode involving Indian badminton star PV Sindhu missing the All England Open (March 3–8) is still fresh. It served as a stark reminder of how vulnerable sport is to geopolitical crises.
When Sindhu flew to Dubai with the hope of catching her Emirates flight to Birmingham, the venue for the All England Open, the war struck. Caught amid Iranian drone strikes and widespread airspace closures – retaliation to attacks by the US and Israel – she was left stranded in an increasingly volatile situation.
The ordeal proved deeply unsettling; despite her disappointment at missing one of badminton’s most prestigious events, the experience weighed heavily on her mind, prompting her to step away from the BWF World Tour to recover. She is now unlikely to return to competitive action until the Badminton Asia Championships.
For international travelers, the Gulf functions as a vital bridge to destinations in the West. When disruptions strike this corridor, the ripple effects are immediate and far-reaching, exposing just how dependent international movement has become on a few critical transit hubs.
Many global sports events depend heavily on Middle Eastern aviation hubs such as Dubai International Airport and Hamad International Airport as transit points between Europe, Asia and Australia. When flights through these hubs were suspended or rerouted, athletes, teams and officials suddenly found themselves stranded mid-journey.
Echo of Covid era
Global sports have been shattered by the Iran war in what was an echo of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, when a slew of sporting events across the world were canceled due to lockdown and the fear of infection.
The closed airspace in the Middle East saw athletes traveling to the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympic Games stuck. The Finalissima between South American champions Argentina and European champions Spain was called off as war spilled across the region.
One of the earliest casualties of the war was a tennis tournament in the UAE. The ATP Tour canceled its ATP Challenger event in Fujairah after a security alert linked to the regional tensions. Players were left scrambling to leave the country, and the situation sparked controversy when the tour initially proposed a €5,000 charter flight fee for athletes. After backlash from the tennis community, especially considering the tournament’s modest prize pool, the ATP eventually agreed to cover evacuation flight costs for the players.
The cancellation illustrates how quickly geopolitical developments can upend sporting events, particularly those scheduled in regions affected by travel disruptions. The US men’s hockey team withdrew from a Hockey World Cup 2026 qualifier in Ismailia, Egypt, after an official advisory from the State Department urging all US citizens to leave nations within or close to conflict zones.
Meanwhile, all sporting events in Iran have been canceled until further notice, including the country’s top-flight Persian Gulf Pro League. The Bahraini FA has also halted all domestic competitions. Qatar’s top-flight football league will resume this week after a nationwide suspension of sporting activity imposed amid regional security concerns, the Qatar Stars League Foundation said on Monday.
Meanwhile, the Iranian men’s football team threatened to pull out of the FIFA World Cup as the host, the US, has been directly involved in the war. Also, US President Donald Trump directly threatened Iran, stating it was not “appropriate” for them to attend due to concerns over their “life and safety”. Despite such a thuggery by Trump, FIFA refused to move Iran’s matches.
During the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, five Iranian women footballers sought asylum, fearing persecution upon their return home after they refused to sign the national anthem.
Damage has also been caused to AFC Champions League matches, with matches of Al-Nassr FC, for which legendary Cristiano Ronaldo plays, suspended indefinitely. Matches of other teams have also been postponed. The effect of war is not limited to West Asia alone, as the fate of Asia’s premier club football tournament has become uncertain.
Gulf’s image dented
The story of Ronaldo leaving Saudi Arabia on his chartered flight while incessant drone strikes continued was proof of how volatile and challenging life in the Gulf has been.
Such is the situation that even Nasser al-Khelaifi, considered the second-most powerful individual in world football after the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, had been grounded when Paris Saint-Germain hosted Chelsea in the last-16 of the Champions League in Doha. Due to relentless drone attacks by Iran, Qatari airspace was closed and the 52-year-old was forced to miss his first PSG match for years.
The volatility and fragility of the Middle East has always been a threat to peace, and sporting activities can only triumph when peace and prosperity prevail. But the present contrasting scenario has threatened Gulf countries’ pursuit to increase their soft power by becoming a major sports hub in the world.
LIV Golf, owned and financed by Saudi Arabia government’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, has come to a standstill. Formula One also called off this month’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix along with MotoGP’s Qatar Grand Prix, which has now been rescheduled for November.
Small scale events have also come under threat, with uncertainty looming over next month’s Artistic Gymnastics World Cup and the Gulf Cooperation Council Games, a regional multi-sport event scheduled for May. Further down the calendar, Qatar remains slated to host the FIBA Basketball World Cup in 2027.
This series of cancellations has dented Gulf countries’ pursuit to build themselves as a sports superpower. Both Saudi Arabia and Qatar in particular have invested heavily on sports. For the FIFA World Cup 2022 alone, Qatar had spent $220bn to scale up their infrastructure. They are now apparently strongly bidding for the 2036 Olympics, while Saudi Arabia will host the 2034 FIFA World Cup.
Infrastructure planning has now been thrown off course by the war, with the construction of the 11 new stadiums that Saudi Arabia intends to build heavily reliant on immigrant labourers.
Prior to the outbreak of the war, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain were advancing their Vision 2030 initiatives, focused on reducing reliance on oil by expanding into sectors such as sport, leisure and tourism.
The ongoing war waged by the US and Israel against Iran, and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on neighboring countries hosting American bases, has starkly exposed the region’s vulnerability. This escalating instability is likely to compel international sports federations to reassess their approach to prioritizing events in the Gulf, where security concerns have now come sharply into focus.
The massive influx of capital has not only helped secure hosting rights for marquee events, but has also enabled the acquisition of top players and the recruitment of foreign consultants. However, that spending spree and free flow of cash could now be upended, prompting athletes to reconsider decisions to shift their allegiance.
War stalls Saudi Arabia’s investment spree
This war has also derailed most of the mammoth efforts made by the Gulf countries. In 2023, Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, announced that the country was aiming to grow sport to three percent of gross domestic product by 2030.
To understand the scale of the ambition, one must note that the entire European Union countries’ total contribution to sports is two percent of their GDP. Recently, the Saudi Pro League became one of the major attractions of the world not because of the quality of football but because of the money spent on acquiring top international stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema – though the sporting culture still remains at a nascent stage.
The sports ecosystem Saudi Arabia built under the PIF through aggressive investments in football, boxing, golf and tennis – had, over the years, attracted global investors. However, the war has now left many feeling deprived of returns, casting serious doubt over the sustainability of those ambitions and undermining the credibility of the country’s extensive sporting push.
