“It is similar in structure to the deals that have helped bring our races to Munich, London, and other new cities in 2018,” Johnson said. “This would not meet our standards,” he said.ĭRL is hosting the finale in partnership with Saudi Arabia’s General Sports Authority, which is one of the co-sponsors of the event. Benjamin Johnson, DRL’s head of business development and marketing, told me in an email this would not be the case. In her blog post, French questioned whether female drone pilots would need to bring male escorts with them to Saudi Arabia, were they to compete. The US State Department warns that women must be met by a male sponsor upon arrival in the country. Women must often obtain the permission of a male guardian in order to travel in Saudi Arabia, according to Human Rights Watch. “DRL is holding their contest in one of the most dangerous countries for women, which will likely leave a lot of potential racers out of participating in the race,” French told me in an email. Sally French, founder of the website The Drone Girl, wrote an article questioning how DRL would be able to have female or openly LGBT drone racers attend the championship given Saudi Arabia’s lack of gender equality and LGBT protections. "I wish more forethought would have been put into picking their locations and creating an environment for all competitors to be equals, as it stands DRL's statements seem very counter to that of their actions," Stumbaugh told me in an email. Hundreds of people commented on Stumbaugh’s post, many expressing similar outrage at the decision. “What I haven’t seen are televised leagues in the US including female competitors, and most recently the Drone Racing League announcing their plans to host the season 3 finale in Saudi Arabia, barring some of the best women in drone sports from competing if they were even invited and or qualified to compete.” I know more amazing female pilots than I can keep track of and had the pleasure of racing against,” Stumbaugh wrote. “Why are there no women in drone sports? Not saying there are no female competitors. She announced on Facebook that she was “publicly protesting the decisions” DRL has made. Zoe Stumbaugh, who Motherboard profiled in September, is one of the most prominent female drone racers. The organization says, however, that the location of the championship will have no effect on women’s ability to participate. The Drone Racing League doesn’t have any female pilots listed on its website, for example. DRL’s decision to host the competition in Saudi Arabia immediately caused a controversy in the drone racing community, and is being viewed as a blow to equality in an already male-dominated field.
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