Endurance sports - mainly triathlon - have been building a solid presence in the Middle East for years, as we explained a few months ago on YouTube: millionaire contracts, star events and agreements with sovereign wealth funds that have redrawn the international calendar.
Everything has been called into question - and in the greatest of uncertainties - with the recent war in Iran.
In fact, it has only taken five days of war to face its first sports bill: the WTCS Abu Dhabi, the first event of the season, has been postponed sine die. It won't be the last.
The WTCs calendar, by the floors
The closure of airspace in the Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain has made it unfeasible to hold the test next month.
World Triathlon has confirmed the postponement of elite trials, paratriathlon and mixed relay. The age group races of March 28 and 29 still stand, for now, taking into account that the bulk of the participants are from the area and air travel does not come into play.
The problem, however, goes beyond missing a test: the WTCS runs on a structure of five races plus the grand finale, and Abu Dhabi was first.
If the test does not recover before the Pontevedra Grand Final on September 26 and 27, the entire season will be decided on four results. That changes the qualification calculations, travel, preparation, and contracts of professional athletes.
The first effective WTCs of 2026 is now in Samarkand on April 26, with all that implies in terms of the set-up schedule.
T100, IRONMAN and the Qatar Grand Final: the biggest problem is yet to come
Abu Dhabi is the appetizer. The real problem for the endurance calendar piles up in the final stretch of the year.
T100 has three events in the region: Dubai in November, a men's event in Saudi Arabia also in November with a date yet to be confirmed, and the Qatar T100 Final on 11 December.
That last test is not just anything: it is the grand finale of the circuit, the one that distributes the bulk of the economic prize and decides the title of the season. If the conflict spreads or destabilizes Qatar, T100 runs out of year-end.
IRONMAN, meanwhile, has two appointments in Oman: Muscat on December 5 and IRONMAN 70.3 Dhofar on October 24.
Oman has so far served as a mediator in the conflict and is not at the center of the fire at the moment, but regional volatility gives no guarantees to anyone.
And the PTO, which received about $40 million last year from SURJ Sports Investment, the sports arm of the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, has its entire expansion strategy in the region compromised at the worst possible time.
The endurance sport's bet on Gulf money has paid off for years. The question now is how much of the 2026 calendar comes to fruition, and whether or not the T100 grand finale in Qatar has a substitute if it falls.