The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority on Wednesday said that the exhibition Six Kings Slam tennis tournament has been postponed after Yemen’s Houthis carried out several deadly attacks on the kingdom.
Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev were all due to take part in the competition next week, alongside Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien and Alex de Minaur.
The event, originally scheduled for October 21-24 and to be streamed live by Netflix, will now take place from December 27-30.
“The Six Kings Slam tournament has been postponed due to logistical reasons and will now take place on December 27,” wrote Turki Alalshikh on X, sharing a statement from the Riyadh Season entertainment programme.
Earlier this week, three Saudi Pro League football matches, including one involving Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr, were also postponed.
A violent battle between a Saudi-led coalition and Yemen’s Houthis has erupted in recent days, with missile strikes on airports and energy facilities across the kingdom.
The latest round of fighting was triggered by Houthi strikes on Riyadh’s international airport at the weekend that left 13 people dead and operations suspended in the worst attack since 2015.
Saudi Arabia’s sporting programme has been heavily hit since the outbreak of the United States and Israel’s war with Iran in late February.
The Formula One Saudi Arabian Grand Prix slated for April in Jeddah was cancelled.
The WTA Finals were also scheduled to be held in Riyadh next month but will instead take place at Indian Wells in the US.
Al Nassr’s Asian Champions League match against Neftchi Fergana was delayed by an hour two days ago after the Saudi-led military coalition said it had intercepted a missile fired by the Houthis towards Riyadh.
Ronaldo went on to score his 981st career goal in a 3-1 win.
AFP
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