Thirty thousand agents, police dogs and metal detectors: why the Dakar 2023 increased security in Saudi Arabia

historically the Dakar developed under constant threat of conflicts that jeopardize the security of competition. During the original sojourn in Africa, various groups threatened, and in some cases even executed, French interests, especially in those regions where political and economic interests were mixed.

Indeed, in 2008, the Dakar was about to take off from Lisbon to Senegal and the French secret services advised not to carry out the test, which in the end led to the organization, the French company ASO (Amaury Sport Organization -ASO Amaury Sport Organization-) it joined after the intervention of the French government itself due to “direct threats hurled against the race by terrorist movements”. That conflict led to the arrival of the Dakar in Argentinain 2009.

The competition varied and adapted to changes, especially technological ones. But there are problems that afflict and that are external to the sports field. After the arrival of the Dakar, in 2020, an extreme situation occurred in Saudi Arabia in December 2021, with an attack on the car of the French Philippe Boutroninjured in an attack in Jeddah, after detonating an explosive located under the vehicle.

After that experience, of which we still don’t have further data, the Dakar adapted to the times of extreme prevention. There are movements that until last year were not observed with the naked eye inside the camp.

In fact, this Dakar has implemented the bivouac system from the first moment its members set foot on Arab soil. Although it is indicated that it recalls the old Dakarian spirit of its African origins, the new methodology has simplified the safety regulations during the previous one. Most of them arrived with charter flights arranged by the organization, landed at Yanbu airport, a city located on the Red Sea where the competition started on December 31st.

During the first three years, the Dakar did all its logistics in Jeddah, but has now changed its destination. He left behind Saudi Arabia’s second city (after the capital, Riyadh) and the nerve center of the Dakar settled in a field overlooking the sea, absolutely far from everything.

The ASO company has a 5-year contract with Saudi Arabia, which will expire in 2024. “We have different proposals, but the truth is that we are in Arabia and this country has priority for the future,” the director general told Clarin. of the Dakar, the Frenchman David Castera.

After the World Cup played in neighboring Qatar, Saudi Arabia is aiming for 2030 as a launch year for the world with the Expo and other sumptuous events, but is betting on the organization of the Olympic Games. However, it has been involved in a military coalition against Yemen since 2015 and is generating internal tensions.

Indeed, in the last Formula 1 Grand Prix on the Jeddah urban circuit, the tanks of the local oil company Aramco, close to the track, were attacked while the top category had already started its activity.

With the race already underway and the Dakar in full swing through Saudi Arabia (it will cross the country from west to east until it concludes on January 15 in Dammam on the Persian Gulf), there are details that are striking for those who are regulars in the nomadic life of Dakar.

First of all, security officers are more than visible. Police and other forces accompany the movements in the transfers. On the routes it is constant to find the various stalls. Buses carrying logistics personnel, international press and other services are also controlled by the agents.

“There are more than 30,000 security officers here across Dakar. It is a very large event and requires service based on the scale of the race. These are things that are not easily noticed, but the organization of a Dakar is of capital proportions,” said Castera.

Each bivouac has its own main entrance, where the competitors arrive after each stage. And all the vehicles that make up this traveling city, made up of almost 3,000 people, also enter.

From now on, a security curtain installed at the entrance monitors each vehicle. And there is a “turtle” installed to inspect from underneath every van, car, truck, RV or trailer that enters the property.

The international press, along with members of the medical staff, television staff, organizers and logistics, among others, are also mobilized by air. Both the transfers from the fields to the airports and the traditional procedure for boarding the aircraft are also accompanied by security assistance.

Indeed, at the entrance to the AlUla camp, the second of this Dakar 2023, the newcomers had to wait outside the camp, as the police were checking the ground with metal detectors and dogs.

The Dakar continues with its caravan. While the alternatives of each of the categories of one of the world’s biggest motorsport events are being followed in more than 70 countries, behind the scenes attention is focused on the normal course of the gigantic traveling organization.

Special Envoy, Saudi Arabia.