U.S. Orders Non-Emergency Staff Out of Saudi Arabia, 10 Days Before Canelo-Mbilli in Riyadh

Ten days before Canelo Alvarez and Christian Mbilli are scheduled to fight in Riyadh, the U.S. government told its own non-emergency people to get out of Saudi Arabia.

On Wednesday, the State Department issued an "ordered departure" for non-emergency U.S. government employees and their family members in Saudi Arabia. That covers the embassy in Riyadh and the consulates around the kingdom. An ordered departure is mandatory, not a suggestion. Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed it on X, pushing back on an earlier report that the order covered embassies across the Gulf:

Pigott blamed Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, saying they "have increasingly engaged in hostilities against Saudi Arabia, including attacks on civilian airports and other critical infrastructure resulting in civilian casualties and severe travel disruptions." (CBS News; Anadolu Agency)

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The U.S. Embassy also sent out a security alert on Wednesday. It warned that hostilities could escalate "rapidly" beyond the areas already hit, and it said U.S. government employees in Saudi Arabia now need special authorization from the chief of mission to use any airport in the country. (Anadolu Agency) CBS News reported that the Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport earlier this month killed 12 people and injured more than 300, one American among the dead.

Where that leaves the fight

Officially, nothing has changed. As of Wednesday afternoon, Riyadh Season, Turki Alalshikh, DAZN and The Ring had not announced a postponement, a new date or a new venue. Earlier on Wednesday, DAZN and The Ring were both still promoting #CaneloMbilli for Saturday, Oct. 31. (DAZN Boxing; The Ring)

But this is a different kind of headline than the ones we've been tracking for two weeks. Until now it was missile debris, airport closures, a tennis event pushed to December and anonymous officials telling BoxingScene the fight should move. This is Washington deciding that its own non-essential staff shouldn't be in the country. Dan Rafael, who has been following the security story closely, quote-posted the news with one line: "This can't be good. #CaneloMbilli" (@DanRafael1)

The order applies to U.S. government personnel, not to fighters, promoters, broadcasters or fans. Nobody with the power to move the date has said a word publicly. Still, plenty of people on this card and its crew have to fly in through those same airports, and fight week starts in only a few days.

We covered the back-and-forth as it happened: Canelo Says He's Still Going to Riyadh. Should Anybody Else? and Will Canelo-Mbilli Wait? Quiet Calls to Postpone Riyadh While the Card Stays On. Riyadh also has another date on the books, Carlos Adames vs. Gerome Warburton on Nov. 14: read that one here.

We'll update this story the moment anything official moves. In the meantime, if you think the fight still happens on Halloween, lock in your pick on Fight Picker and tell everyone why in the community.