Bernie Ecclestone stands firm over his support for the 2012 Bahrain Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Bernie Ecclestone has once again come in support for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Ecclestone said that the organisers of the Bahrain Grand Prix would not take a risk with the safety of the event and the people involved.
“That's a danger,” Ecclestone said. “Nothing you can do about that. It could happen anytime, anywhere. There are always people threatening. I don't believe the [organisers] would take a risk if they thought there was a risk. Let's see.”
Bahrain has been in a state of civil unrest for some time now. The 2011 seasons Grand Prix event in the country was dropped due to the situation in the country. Various Human Rights organisations and media supported the boycott of the event.
Ecclestone remained a supporter of holding an event even in those conditions but pressure from all quarters changed his decision. From the end of the previous season till now the debate has been very similar as it had been for the previous event, but the
difference is Ecclestone and the organisers of the event have been very aggressive to defend holding the event this year.
The government has shown that they have the situation in hand and there are no security issues in the country. Bahrain Human Rights Center though have a different picture portrayed and say that there are many human rights violations prevalent in the country
and the event should be called off. They believe that the event will allow the government to portray an image of peace and calm for the world which in fact is not the case.
Another positive for the event has been the political support from Britain. A letter was written and published in Time magazine in support of the event by British MP’s.
Ecclestone also defends the event by saying that all around the globe most of the countries have issues within and if F1 is to look into all the troubles different nations are going through before deciding to hold an event, there would not be any place to
hold a Grand Prix except maybe Switzerland.
“They [the protesters] don't need to resort to violence. All they need to do is stand on the road on the way to the circuit, with placards, and they would get their message out there. Nobody's going to shoot them.”
Tags: