F1 on the Bahrain agenda again

Bahrain has been out of the press for a while now but with Formula 1 returning again for the biggest international event the country holds it's political situation is once again being looked at and questions about the safety of the F1 personnel and whether the race should be held are back on the agenda.

There's a lot to be said about the current situation and the rights and wrongs of whether Formula 1 should be involved in a country where both the government and the opposition use the race as a political tool. 

The government want to project the image that everything is alright and the situation has normalised while the opposition want to use the race to further their agenda by highlighting their plight.

As ever with a country like this that was caught up in the original middle east uprising from 2 years ago, there are many sides and aspects that could be discussed. In fact I wrote a few blogs last year here and here that fell on the side that Formula 1 should not be going to a country that was in such a state of disarray and detail some of the events that were happening at the time.

As it turned out over the weekend last year, apart from a few minor incidents the race went off without a hitch. And I have reason to change my mind on what I have previously written. The media obviously sensationalise for a good headline, but you don't always get the full facts and both sides of the story as expertly detailed by respected journalist Joe Saward. 

For instance a car bomb exploded last Sunday April 14, the blast claimed by the opposition group named February 14. They and Anonymous would like to see the cancellation of the race and threaten disruption, but these events are not regular occurrences but these are the main headlines you would get about Bahrain not that there are many peaceful marches as that's not very exciting. Of course the blast can be said to be timed to provide maximum exposure just as a major international event is about to arrive.

For a far more detailed exposition on the current situation in Bahrain and analysis on how the media present it, I would recommend reading Saward's blog here. It make's for very interesting reading.

If there was a major uprising and it would harm the people of the country I would be against Formula 1 putting on the event. However, it is a sporting event and despite it being used as a tool by both points of view in Bahrain, as long as F1 itself doesn't involve itself in the political situation then there is no reason for it to not go ahead. 

Although having said that, with the Bahrain government so closely linked to the race it's hard to see how it can't be involved. But in the end, it is just that, a race to entertain, not to make a point. That it can be used as such make's the waters murky, but a lot of countries are using Formula 1 to promote themselves on a world stage, should we look at every single countries human rights record? That would certainly be interesting. 

There were the tragic explosions at the Boston Marathon yesterday (April 15), simplified argument I know, but this won't put the world on edge about F1 attending America in Austin, Texas later in the year and this country is on high alert most of the time.

Formula 1 is like a bubble of the best and worst of western capitalism, and that it spreads this message all around the world is always going to tick a few people off. But at it's core it's just a race series, that might seem naive but F1 should not get involved. Even if circumstances change in a country, F1 is just there to race.


For more information on the current situation here's a history of what's been happening in Bahrain. 

Here's a report on the recent bomb blast in Bahrain.

And here's Joe Saward's blog again.

photo from autosport.com

FIA confirm race in Bahrain

It was announced last night that Formula 1 will hold the Bahrain Grand Prix next weekend. The full FIA statement can be read here.

There are many countries which hold international sporting events that have a rather dubious human rights record, but there is a distinct difference which should be made clear to why Bahrain is a different proposition.

The government in Bahrain is using the race as a political tool to present a unified country which is moving forward and are putting to rights the problems they have faced over the last year.  This is in contrast to slogans from the protesters including ‘Stop racing on our blood’.

There is the real problem; in Bahrain the race has become a focus for pro-democracy protesters, using it to show that the government would rather the world think that everything is fine. They pay upwards of £25million for the privilege of holding the race, yet are continually disregarding and cracking down on protests that demand reforms in a country ruled by the Sunni Al Khalifa family to a Shia majority.

Doctors are still being arrested for treating protesters, tear gas is fired indiscriminately and next Tuesday Amnesty International has announced a fifty page report detailing human rights abuses since February 2011 when the Arab Spring sparked to life.

As it has become a target of what is wrong with the country’s priorities, Formula 1 should have taken the decision to cancel the race, but then again money of course talks, only if Bahrain’s authorities had cancelled would F1 and Bernie Ecclestone still be entitled to the race fee.

The teams are uncomfortable with going with one unnamed team member telling the Guardian newspaper "I feel very uncomfortable about going to Bahrain. If I'm brutally frank, the only way they can pull this race off without incident is to have a complete military lockdown there. And I think that would be unacceptable, both for F1 and for Bahrain. But I don't see any other way they can do it."

It's for this reason Formula 1 should not be going. Sport and politics don't mix so everyone says, but this race is political, it is being used by both government and protesters to make a point therefore the decision should have been taken to say the race will only return when the situation has been resolved.

The teams are more concerned with their own safety, which is fair enough really, but the problems in Bahrain should not be ignored, it’s only Red Bull’s Mark Webber who has openly doubted whether Formula 1 should be in the country whereas most other drivers and teams have said it is down to the governing body the FIA to make the call to go or not. Sebastian Vettel has said it is not our business to interfere.

Vettel does have a point, it is not for a sporting series to pass judgement, they are merely there to provide entertainment, but it’s doubtful whether a motor race is the way to bring a disconnected country together.  But for better or worse, for now at least, Formula 1 will be in Bahrain.

Actually there’s a race this weekend too …

Anyway Formula 1 doesn’t stop, there is actually a race in that other human rights paradise of China this weekend where practice has been and gone with McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton and Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes setting the pace. Rain is forecast over the weekend, should be an exciting one.

Will Bahrain Grand Prix go ahead?

At the moment the Bahrain Grand Prix is still scheduled to take place on April 22^nd, a week after the Chinese race, but it has come to light that the teams have already made contingency plans to head straight back to Europe should Bahrain be cancelled.

The main point of this though is that the race hasn’t yet been cancelled. Last year the race was taken off the schedule as the ruling minority Sunni Al Khalifa royal family decided, after a lot of hesitance, to deal with the majority Shiite people protesting against their rule and for democratic reforms and a Formula 1 race would not and should not have been a priority.

But over the last week, despite assurances from the Bahrain government that they are in control, there has been a fatal shooting, tear gas has been fired at protesters and Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights has been arrested, reportedly before a planned march in the capital Manama to show support for fellow human rights activist Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja who is on a hunger strike (joesaward.wordpress.com).

Bahrain want to use the race to unite the country, while Bernie Ecclestone told jamesallenonF1.com that he has no problem with the race being used as ‘”a force for good”’. I find that to be uncomfortably close to the old warning of politics and sport should not mix.

Even if it is meant as a positive show of support, it is especially unwise when a lot of the protests are being directed against the Grand Prix running, especially when the country is still unsettled. The race is important to Bahrain economically and promotes them on an international stage, but when there is still so much unrest in the country is it the wisest decision for Formula 1 and its partners to associate itself with them and put the security of the teams at risk as well?

There are other places Formula 1 and other global sports visit where you could say they have a dubious past and even present, but politics and sport should not mix which is why sports go there, but these events are happening right now.

Is it right for a global sport to go to a country which seeks to use it to unite its people but will violently crack down on them to do so? The protesters are using the race as a focus point and as a sign that the rulers would rather draw a curtain around them and pretend everything is fine and surely that is reason enough not to go?

However, at the moment the teams will go where they are sent and Bahrain feel they are equipped to make the race safe. I’m not sure that is a good thing for the sport, its teams or for the people of Bahrain.