War disrupts sports with doubt over Messi's 'Finalissima,' Ronaldo games and F1 races

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Lewis Hamilton are among the sports stars whose schedules are in doubt because of the spreading war in the Middle East.

Cancellations and travel shutdowns are already affecting events since the United States and Israel launched a wave of strikes on Iran on Saturday. Organizers of Formula 1 and major soccer games face deciding within weeks whether they can go ahead as scheduled.

Middle Eastern nations have become crucial to the world sports landscape over the last decade as event hosts, financial backers and employers for some of the world's top athletes.

The clock is ticking for a decision on whether to cancel or move the Finalissima soccer game on March 27 between Spain and Argentina, the champions of Europe and South America. That match would offer Messi a chance to win yet another trophy in a glittering career.

Qatar suspended all soccer games until further notice Sunday. Argentina was also scheduled to play Qatar in a friendly March 31.

“UEFA is monitoring and carefully assessing all developments of the situation in cooperation with (South American soccer body) CONMEBOL and the (local organizing committee),” European soccer body UEFA told The Associated Press on Monday.

Ronaldo's soccer team, Saudi club Al-Nassr, has already been affected by a wave of cancellations of Asian Champions League games. His team was scheduled to play Wednesday in Dubai.

F1 has races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month. F1 and its teams typically start to fly in staff and freight weeks in advance, limiting the time to make a decision on whether to go ahead. Governing body FIA says its priority is “safety and wellbeing.”

The men's and women's tennis tours and golf's European tour have just finished their Middle East tournament swings and aren't due back for months.

Iran is due to send its men's soccer team to the U.S. for the World Cup in just over three months, with a first game June 16 against New Zealand in Inglewood, California.

There's doubt over whether Iran can or will take part in the tournament. Iranian soccer federation president Mehdi Taj has said “we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope.”

The U.S. government has promised exemptions from its travel bans for athletes and coaches at events like the World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Even if some events go ahead, a major concern for athletes and teams will be how they can travel in and out of the region safely.

Former U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev is among a group of tennis players waiting in Dubai for a chance to fly out after a tournament there concluded last week. If they can't travel soon, it will affect the BNP Paribas Open starting Wednesday in Indian Wells, California.

There are also travel difficulties for some athletes heading to the Winter Paralympics, which start Friday in Italy. The International Paralympic Committee says most teams are already in Europe for training and it's helping out others with travel. Iran is due to have one skier at the Paralympics.

Cricket and basketball players are facing challenges, too, along with thousands of foreign tourists, while F1 personnel are seeking alternative travel to avoid the region on their way to this week's Australian Grand Prix.

The Middle East's influence on world sports has surged in recent years as countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have hosted major events and become crucial financial backers.

Besides soccer and auto racing, Qatar has a World Endurance Championship sportscar race this month, a MotoGP motorcycle race, a gymnastics World Cup next month and hosts the first Diamond League track meet of the year in May. Qatar also owns Champions League-winning soccer team Paris Saint-Germain.

Saudi Arabia, which will host the 2034 World Cup in men's soccer, has funded the LIV Golf breakaway league and become a major player in world boxing.

AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

FILE - An Iranian fan holds his national team banner prior to the Asian Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Japan and Iran at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Feb. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Sayed, file)

FILE - Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands steers his car during a Formula One pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri, file)

FILE - Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton of Britain walks back to his pits during the qualifying session for the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, Hungary, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Denes Erdos, file)

FILE - Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring at the King Saud University Stadium, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Jan. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla, file)

FILE - Argentina's Lionel Messi hoists the winning team replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy during a celebration ceremony for local fans after an international friendly soccer match against Panama at the Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, March 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Gustavo Garello, file)

AKROTIRI, Cyprus (AP) — Britain is not at war, the government said Monday, despite saying it would allow the U.S. to use British bases during its war with Iran and after a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus was struck by an Iranian-made drone.

Sirens sounded again at RAF Akrotiri on Monday and British Typhoon and F-35 warplanes were scrambled. Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that two drones heading toward the British base had been intercepted.

More than two decades after Britain followed the United States into a devastating war in Iraq, it is trying to avoid being drawn into a new Middle East conflict with unpredictable consequences.

U.K. officials say an attack drone hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri, a British air force base in Cyprus, late Sunday. There were no injuries and “minimal” damage, but the strike brought the conflict onto European soil.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides identified it as a “Shahed-type” Iranian drone. It was not immediately clear whether it was launched from Iran or by a Tehran-backed militant group such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Akrotiri is the U.K.’s main air base for operations in the Middle East and in recent years has been used by British warplanes on missions against the Islamic State group in Syria and Iraq and to strike Houthi targets in Yemen.

As tensions between the U.S. and Iran mounted, Britain last month deployed extra F-35 fighter jets to Akrotiri, along with radar, counter-drone systems and air defenses.

Britain retained the base, and another on Cyprus, after the eastern Mediterranean island gained independence from British colonial rule in 1960.

It was last attacked in 1986, when pro-Libya militants struck the base with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, injuring three dependents of British personnel. The latest attack is believed to be the first attack on Cyprus from outside the country since Turkey’s invasion of the island in 1974.

Britain’s defense ministry said families of U.K. personnel who live on the base were being moved to nearby accommodation as a precaution.

Some residents of the nearby village of Akrotiri also opted to leave their homes and spend the night with relatives elsewhere.

Villager Mikaella Malta said she heard “strange noises” just before the drone explosion.

“We tried to figure out what was going on. We then picked up whatever we could from home. We were in a panic and we left,” she told the AP.

British officials have refused to say whether the U.K. supports the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. They have said that Iran should not be able to have a nuclear weapon and called for an end to Iranian strikes and a diplomatic solution.

Britain did not take part in the strikes on Iran that began Saturday, and did not allow the U.S. to use U.K. bases in England or on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

But on Sunday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that he had agreed to let the U.S. use the bases for attacks on Iran’s missiles and their launch sites. He said the change came in response to Iranian attacks on U.K. interests and Britain’s allies in the Gulf, and is legal under international law.

Britain says its bases can’t be used for attacks on political and economic targets in Iran, and Starmer said the U.K. is “not joining the U.S. and Israeli offensive strikes.”

U.S. President Donald Trump told the Daily Telegraph on Monday he was “very disappointed in Keir," saying the prime minister "took far too long” to change his mind about the use of British bases.

Starmer said Britain would not be joining the U.S.-Israeli strikes, and Middle East Minister Hamish Falconer stressed that “the U.K. is not at war.”

The memory of Iraq remains raw for many in Britain. The decision by then-Prime Minister Tony Blair to join the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 remains one of the most contentious in modern British history.

The subsequent yearslong conflict killed 179 British troops, some 4,500 American personnel and many thousands of Iraqis.

“We all remember the mistakes of Iraq and we have learned those lessons," Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday. “Any U.K. actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable, thought-through plan.”

Critics say attempts to set firm limits on Britain’s involvement in Iran could be swept away by a fast-moving conflict.

“We are being drawn in, just as we were in Iraq, following the U.S. into an incredibly dangerous situation,” said John McDonnell, a lawmaker from the governing Labour Party.

Patrick Bury, senior associate professor in security at the University of Bath, said Britain is in an “incredibly difficult” position.

“We’ve had very little explanation for this war, really, from the U.S.,” he said. “The U.K. policy is always heavily on upholding international law. So they’re kind of looking at this going, ‘How does this fit with our own foreign policy?’ And I think that explains why they’ve held off as much as they could.

"And nevertheless, they get a direct request. What are you going to do, say no?”

Lawless reported from London.

A Fighter Jet prepares for landing at the U.K.'s RAF Akrotiri air base after it was hit by a drone strike early morning near Limassol, Cyprus, Monday, March, 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer issues a statement at 10 Downing Street, London, on the latest developments in the Middle East, Saturday Feb. 28, 2026. (Jonathan Brady/Pool via AP)

A dog sits at the main gate of the U.K.’s RAF Akrotiri air base after it was hit by a drone strike early morning near Limassol, Cyprus, Monday, March, 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Petros Karadjias)