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.