Next month’s Dubai Baja Rally postponed

DUBAI: The 2020 Dubai International Baja, the final round of the FIA Middle East Rally Championship due to take place next month, has been postponed in light of the current COVID-19 situation.

A statement was issued on behalf of Mohammed Ben Sulayem, president of the Emirates Motorsports Organization, the rally organisers, and FIA Vice President for Sport, which said: “We are working closely with the FIA and the FIM, motor sport’s world governing bodies, in order to find new dates for the event to take place in the November-december period.”

“This is also the case with the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, which has been postponed from its original dates of March 21-26,” the statement said.

“As organiser of the two events, we have been in permanent contact with the government authorities in the UAE and are following all precautionary measures to safeguard the health and safety of the motor sport community and the general public.” it said.

Last month, the International Triathlon Union, in consultation with the Abu Dhabi Sports Council, had postponed the 2020 ITU World Triathlon Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Paratriathlon World Cup and Abu Dhabi Mixed Relay event as a precautionary measure to reduce the spread of coronavirus.

The event was due to take place from March 5 to 7 on Yas Island, in Abu Dhabi, where some cases were reported in the last few days.

Although the Abu Dhabi authorities are working on measures so that the safety of all the athletes, coaches and officials participating in the event is the main concern, due to the new World Health Organisation recommendations and the spread of the virus, ITU and the Abu Dhabi Sports Council have jointly agreed to postpone the event.

The final two stages of the UAE Tour were cancelled after two Italian staff members of one of the teams participating were confirmed as having tested positive for the coronavirus.