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Jeddah to Host Variety of World-Focused Sporting Events Starting with Spanish Super Cup in 2025

Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA
Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA
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Jeddah to Host Variety of World-Focused Sporting Events Starting with Spanish Super Cup in 2025

Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA
Culture Square aims to enrich the visitor journey while positioning the district as a global tourist destination, in alignment with Saudi Vision 2030. SPA

Jeddah will host a range of diverse sporting events and activities during the first third of 2025, beginning with the Spanish Super Cup, marking its fifth edition in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from January 8 to 12, as part of ongoing efforts to enhance the sports, economic, and tourism sectors.
According to SPA, the championship will feature matches involving four clubs: Real Madrid, Barcelona, Athletic Bilbao, and Real Mallorca. These will be held at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium and played in a knockout format. The first match will see Barcelona face Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday, January 8, followed by Real Madrid versus Real Mallorca on Thursday, January 9. The winners will advance to the final match, which will take place on Sunday evening, January 12,
Jeddah will also continue hosting major sports events with the Formula E races, featuring the third and fourth rounds of the 11th season on February 14-15 at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, showcasing fully electric, carbon-free racing cars.
Additionally, Jeddah will host the 2025 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix stc Formula 1, one of the most thrilling and popular global races, for the fifth consecutive year at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, from April 18 to 20. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix stc Formula 1 is part of the Kingdom’s broader vision for the future, aimed at improving the quality of life for everyone across various social sectors, from culture to sports, contributing to building a more prosperous nation. This aligns with the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 to make the Kingdom a desirable destination for living and visiting.
Jeddah will once again host the opening round of the E1 Electric Boat Racing on January 24-25. Last year, this event generated great excitement as competitors vied for the championship cup, won by the Brady team with 20 points in the first round held on the Red Sea coast. Jeddah will also host the Extreme E electric off-road race for the fifth consecutive time, showcasing a new and innovative form of electric car racing that highlights the impact of climate change on the environment and promotes eco-friendly technologies in sustainability. This supports the transition to electric vehicles, contributing to carbon reduction and sustainability for a better future on Earth.
Furthermore, Jeddah will host matches of the Saudi national football team in the qualifiers for the World Cup 2026, along with a series of other major global events and competitions to be announced by the Ministry of Sport and its federations in the coming period.

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Lithuania’s Baciuška Wins Dakar Rally’s Longest Stage in Saudi Arabia

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
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Lithuania’s Baciuška Wins Dakar Rally’s Longest Stage in Saudi Arabia

Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)
Rallying - Dakar Rally - Stage 2 - Bisha to Bisha - Saudi Arabia - January 6, 2025 Overdrive Racing's Rokas Baciuška and Oriol Mena in action. (Reuters)

Lithuanian driver Rokas Baciuška proved he's a contender in the Dakar Rally when he won the longest stage in the Saudi Arabia desert on Monday.

Baciuška was 22 minutes off the lead starting the second half of the two-day, 967-kilometer second stage. But on the day's 341-kilometer drive back to Bisha, he finished within seven minutes of provisional winner Yazeed Al Rajhi, and hours later was promoted to stage winner.

Baciuška was given back time lost for faulty refueling, giving him the win by nearly three minutes over Al Rajhi. Juan Cruz Yacopini of Argentina was also promoted after the race to third, giving the Overdrive Racing team's Toyotas 1-2-3 on the stage.

Al Rajhi and Nasser Al-Attiyah's Dacia dueled over the entire stage, and were as close as 20 seconds apart. But at the finish they were penalized two and four minutes respectively for exceeding speed limits.

Baciuška's credentials aren't in dispute. He made the podium in his first three Dakars in the buggy classes, and turned them into world rally-raid titles the last three years.

This year he's stepped up to the major car category, reunited with his first Dakar co-driver, Oriol Mena, after his usual partner Oriol Vidal withdrew with a back injury. They got off to a horrible start on stage one when mechanical problems cost them 2 hours, 20 minutes.

But by Sunday night, despite another late mishap, Baciuška was only 22 minutes off the pace.

Another big improver was Sebastien Loeb, who rebounded from engine fan problems on Sunday by slashing 15 minutes on Monday to finish only 16 minutes back in seventh.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz, who landed on his roof on Sunday, lost more time on Monday and finished more than 1 1/2 hours behind.

Overall, the leader was South Africa's Henk Lategan after finishing fourth on the stage; Al Rajhi was nearly five minutes behind, and Al-Attiyah third more than 11 minutes back.

“The dust was a problem for most of the stage,” Lategan said. “The navigation was also super, super tricky. Brett (Cummings, co-driver) did really well. It's actually a big surprise to be first because we haven't been really focusing on it. But I'm happy with that. We've been playing a more strategic game over these two days.”

Toby Price and navigator Sam Sunderland, both two-time motorbike champions trying four wheels for the first time, were fourth.

In the motorbike class, Daniel Sanders became the first rider to win three consecutive stages since Joan Barreda in 2017.

Sanders was seventh to start the day but the Australian caught the pathfinders after about 150 kilometers and controlled the rest of the race.

After 11 hours of racing over two days, Sanders won the stage by more than seven minutes from American Skyler Howes. Spain's Tosha Schareina, who opened the way, was only another four seconds back.

Overall, Sanders was more than 12 minutes up on Howes and Botswana's Ross Branch.

Defending champion Ricky Brabec fell 15 minutes back in fifth.

“The body feels good and I don't feel tired at all,” Sanders said. “I just saved a lot of energy ready for next week. It was good to get the stage win, but it was on me to decide whether I wanted today or not.”

Stage three heading north on Tuesday was reduced by 169 kilometers to 327 kilometers because of storms in the Al Henakiyah region.