Bahrain GP situation: postponed, reinstated, cancelled

[Giblet]

Bahrain is tiny. There are only 1.2 million people there and there is this much strife.

The race needs to be dropped. There is my second strong opinion of the day

[manchild]

[bhall]

Human Rights Watch has warned Formula 1 that by holding next week's Bahrain Grand Prix, it will be endorsing the kingdom's regime despite claims that sport and politics don't mix.

Joe Stork, the deputy middle east director of Human Rights Watch, which monitors human rights issues worldwide, stopped short of calling for the race to be cancelled in an interview with AUTOSPORT. But he believes that if the race does happen then F1 will be seen as supporting the government.

"You can't say that you are not mixing politics and sport when you are coming down on one side," Stork told AUTOSPORT. "You may prefer not to be facing the choice of whether to go in or stay out, but this is the choice F1 faces. Whatever decision it takes, there is a political aspect to it.

"We don't feel that it is our place to be calling for F1 to boycott Bahrain. But it is not a very good situation and it's getting steadily worse. We are not security experts, so that's a whole separate consideration that F1 needs to take into account as well.

"We are looking at a lockdown. F1 is not my world, but this seems to be a terrible climate in which to hold what is supposed to be a competitive, festive sporting event. In the circumstances, I don't know who is going to be having any fun."

Stork believes that even though there is a good chance that security forces in Bahrain can make the race itself safe, F1 will face serious questions about its willingness to race there.

Protests against the race have been ongoing in Bahrain in recent weeks according to widespread news reports, and they are expected to continue once F1 arrives.

"I think that they [F1] will have some explaining to do," said Stork. "I can easily imagine that the security will be such that you won't have the race disrupted on the track and I imagine that they can keep that under control.

"But if you have a situation where there are demonstrations on a nightly, if not daily basis, clashes with security forces who aren't known for the most sophisticated crowd control techniques is not going to be good.

"It's not going to be good for Bahrain, it's not going to be good for F1 either if it happens either during the race or when it's clear that the demonstrations are primarily aimed at stopping the race. That's what the story will be."

Stork accepts that staging the race will be a positive for some in the kingdom - specifically the government - but that this is not a valid argument for the race going ahead.

"From the Bahraini government's point of view, of course," he said when asked if there were potential benefits to the race going ahead. "They are desperate to make the case that the situation is normal from a security point of view, normal in terms of civil strife, and that it's one big happy family.

"But the fact is, it's not normal. I'm not sure that it's the mission or the mandate of F1 to be participating in these kinds of exercises.

"Then there's the financial aspects. The economy of Bahrain is not in the best shape given the year-plus of civil unrest. F1 is a money-maker and is good for Bahraini business and tourism.

"The [ruling] Al Khalifa family are desperate for [the grand prix] to happen. But that doesn't mean that it should happen."

This is just plain stupid, if only for the myopic view it expresses of the situation.

"You can't say that you are not mixing politics and sport when you are coming down on one side."

Sure, you can. Honoring a pre-existing contract is perhaps the least political option of all. Otherwise, not going is just as much of a political statement as going. It's a classic Catch-22.

"We don't feel that it is our place to be calling for F1 to boycott Bahrain."

Indeed, because they don't have the stones to call for such a boycott. They'll just passive-aggressively imply the call for a boycott, which is the entire point of this man's statements.

I'm naturally predisposed to fall in line politically with groups like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Southern Poverty Law Center, etc. I just can't get behind the non sequiturs and twisted reasoning this man is throwing out into the world, and, frankly, I think he's doing a disservice to those he claims to support.

(None of this is directed at you, strad. Just this guy. Few things irritate me more than someone can't rest on being merely right, and instead feels like he has to win.)

[Richard]

I'm naturally predisposed to fall in line politically with groups like Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Southern Poverty Law Center, etc. I just can't get behind the non sequiturs and twisted reasoning this man is throwing out into the world, and, frankly, I think he's doing a disservice to those he claims to support.

I agree. Bad things happen everywhere in the world, that's not grounds to cancel the race or we'd never do anything because everwhere is bad to some degree. A decision to cancel a race has to be based on objective arguments relevant to F1 - primarily sanctions (not relevant here), safety, and sponsors.

[Giblet]

By going, F1 is telling the world it is safe there. By not going, they are telling the world it is unsafe there.

It seems to be a lose lose situation at this point. But from a pure logical view, nobody can can get shot or blown up if they don't go.

Sports have brought together the world in difficult times before, and sport has been political, such as Jesse Owens.

[PlatinumZealot]

Every country has their radicals.

For now I am going with Bernie, Jackie and the seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher.

F1 legend Michael Schumacher insists that Bahrain can safely stage its grand prix.

http://edition.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_c2 ... macher.cnn

[Giblet]

To be fair to the sport despite me siding with the protesters, we have not raced on their blood. There has not been a race since the bloody quell of the 2011 uprising.

The protesters are misinformed and pointing their anger at the wrong people. BUt if they point it at the right people, they get shot. Lose lose.

[Hail22]

Most likely we will get an official word later today (The 13th) How befitting to discuss about Bahrain with Team Principals on Friday the 13th? oooooh spooky haha.

Anyways they better take the decision seriously as the cars would literally need to be shipping from China straight to Bahrain on Sunday night so it could turn into a logistical nightmare if the decision is made too late.

[PlatinumZealot]

Question to those who oppose the GP. If the race is held will you watch it?

[Hail22]

Most certainly not.

[WhiteBlue]

You can't say that you are not mixing politics and sport when you are coming down on one side."

Sure, you can. Honoring a pre-existing contract is perhaps the least political option of all. Otherwise, not going is just as much of a political statement as going. It's a classic Catch-22...

I'm not surprised that I have once again to disagree here. The politicising did not start with the race contract some years ago. That was entirely separate at the time from the political situation in Bahrain.

But last year they had a bloody beat down of political demonstrations by Saudi tanks which was in effect a pro monarchy coup by a foreign military power. The political movement for democracy and civil rights that was attacked by the coup is ongoing. But now the monarchy claims that F1 is visiting a nation which is unified once again. It is a blatantly obvious political propaganda lie. F1 is being used for a political demonstration exactly like the podium ceremony in Turkey 2006 or the Berlin Olympic Games 1936.

If F1 would refuse to go it would be true to it's own statutes because that would deny the Bahrain royals turning the race into a propaganda affair. It is not true that cancelling the race would be a demonstration siding with the civil rights activists. The activists have not turned the race into a political show. That was the doing of the crown prince by dubbing it "uniF1cation". I believe that one has to be careful when one deals with propaganda issues. I believe the truth is clear when you just go back one year and analyse the history of the conflict in comparison with other propaganda events.

The similarity with Berlin 1936 becomes obvious when you compare Joseph Goebbel's slogan "The Olympic Games as a National task". Nothing could be more misappropriate. The games were supposed to be a huge international competition but Goebbels who was the chief organizer on the German side wanted to make them a demonstration of Arian and German superiority. Even the excessive use of police/military power is similar to the Bahrain events. In 1936 the SA and the SD had already evacuated all Sinti and Roma from the wider Berlin area and concentrated them in the Marzahn Ghetto. The concentration camp Sachsenhausen for Jews had already been erected and could have been visited by the visiting olympic athletes and their press. The freedom of press and speech had already been severely restricted.

The 1936 Olympic Games were a mistake. They should have never been awarded and should have been cancelled when the racial and religious discriminations in Germany were revealed. In 2006 The FiA did the right thing and punished the Turks for turning a podium ceremony into a political demonstration . This week they are making the same mistake as the free world in 1936. I fear it is because J.Todt is indebted to the crown prince for his role in the presidential elections. This is a very bad reason for making such a decision. A decision should be made with awareness of the history and in accordance with the statutes.

[bhall]

No one has to agree or disagree with anything; they're choices, like most other things in life. That said, I'm delighted to see five paragraphs generated in response to a hypothetical sentence that in no way encapsulated anything other than an option for the context in which it was presented.

[Hail22]

FIA released statement on Sky Sports F1 HD stating the Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead.

If anything goes wrong I hope Bernie and Jean Todt immediately step down.

[kris]

If people are peeved, probably they let the race go on with zero attendance.. If this happens not sure if Todt/Bernie would want to hold that race in the future calendar.. It sure would show them and the race in bad light.

[Lycoming]

who even bought tickets? I'm curious as to what the grandstands will be like... wouldn't be surprised if it was even worse than turkey last year.

... I'd still watch it on TV though. Well maybe not, its exam time over here. but...