Bahrain Grand Prix organisers oppose boycott calls for 2012 season – Formula 1 news
The organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix have come out to oppose the calls for a boycott of the event scheduled to be held in the upcoming 2012 Formula 1 season.
The event has been marred by civil disruptions in the country for the most part of the 2011. The situations caused the season-opening event in 2011 to be postponed. The calls for a boycott were much higher last year as a lot of riots and marches were being
held against the Government.
Formula 1 Boss Bernie Ecclestone has been known to weigh things according to the profit it divulges, and hence remained a staunch advocate of holding the even in Bahrain. Due to the increasing pressure, he decided to send an independent commission to Bahrain
to assess the situation. The commission surprisingly deemed the country safe to hold the event.
Later though after the local government warned Formula One Management, and advised that it would not be feasible for them to hold a Grand Prix in a unstable time the country faced, Ecclestone finally decided to call the event off.
Red Bull driver Mark Webber was the first driver last year to publicly boycott the event, but the Aussie was heavily criticised by the Bahrain Organisers and Ecclestone as well as they cited that Webber did not have a problem going for the Australian Grand
Prix when the wild fire caused safety concerns in the country especially in Perth.
The Human Rights Center of Bahrain’s vice president Nabeel Rajab has called for the event to be boycotted again for the 2012 season. Expressing concerns that it will help the government portray an image which is not true to the situation its (Bahrain’s)
people suffer.
However, a spokesman from the Bahrain organisers have opposed any concerns and has defended that the government is taking all the necessary steps it needs to take.
“Last year, the King of Bahrain commissioned an independent report into alleged human rights abuses, the findings of which were published in November,” the spokesman said. “The report found evidence of human rights violations and made certain general and
specific recommendations. The Government has fully acknowledged the findings of the report and is acting swiftly and convincingly on the recommendations.”
Which way will the pendulum swing for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix? We will find that out in the days to come.
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