The World Surf League announced Friday it’s officially removing the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro from the 2026 Championship Tour calendar. A press release from the league acknowledged “persistent constraints on international flights and the current situation in the region” had made “staging the event this season unfeasible.”
“We explored every option to keep the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro on the calendar this year,” said Ryan Crosby, WSL CEO. “Unfortunately, the current conditions and logistical limitations made it impossible for us to move forward. It was a difficult decision, but the right one at this time. We value our partnership with Surf Abu Dhabi, and look forward to returning.”
The Inertia was the first to report that the Surf Abu Dhabi Pro was on the chopping block back in June. At the time, sources said the league was considering the move if “the situation” didn’t improve between Iran and the U.S. by late August. The WSL announced it was adding Cloud 9 in the Philippines to its 2026 CT schedule the very next day, saying the addition would ensure a 12-stop season should the Abu Dhabi event be cancelled.
And now, here we are.
Several professional sporting events in the region have been cancelled since U.S. and Israeli forces launched joint airstrikes against Iran on February 28, 2026. Ceasefire negotiations have been in a constant on-and-off cycle in the months since, and the United Arab Emirates, where the U.S. has a strong military presence, had been targeted by more than 3,000 missiles and drones in June when news broke that the WSL was considering this move. Just last month, the UAE paused trade and financial negotiations with Iran when it said two more ballistic missiles had been launched from the country toward its territorial waters.
Formula 1 racing is perhaps the most high-profile, with races first cancelled in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in the weeks shortly after the war began. Two more races in the region are still on the schedule, however, and F1 officials have set a mid-September deadline for making a decision on those events. All signs point to F1 racing being forced to end its season in Europe as a fallback, while that self-imposed deadline closes in fast.
As for the WSL, the CT moves to California next week, then to Supertubos in October. The Philippines Pro at Cloud 9, October 31-November 10, will replace the now-cancelled Abu Dhabi event.
