Bahrain and the issue of human rights
It is there for all to see how Formula 1 is growing in wealth and media exposure, but in the frenzy of numbers it wouldn’t hurt to stop and breathe once in a while. And – it will never be enough – to underline the inconsistencies in some decisions of the top management of this sport, which in 2020 launched the campaign #WeRaceAsOne to remove social barriers in Formula 1 and a few months later he signed contracts to race in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Two countries where homosexuality is a crime punishable by the death penalty. With the Bahrain race approaching, it is normal for the debate around the relationship between Formula 1 and countries that do not respect human rights to return.
Human rights in Bahrain
In Bahrain homosexuality is not criminally prosecuted, but – as evidenced by the latest report by Amnesty International – human rights continue to be violated with torture, ill-treatment, suppression of freedom of expression and assembly. Except for 2010 and 2011, Formula 1 has always visited Sakhir in the last 20 seasons.
And then there is Jeddah
The 2023 calendar, like that of last year, places another discussed and questionable race, that of Saudi Arabia, which has also ended up in the crosshairs of critics also from a safety point of view. This start of the World Championship has led Paul Scriven, a member of the British House of Lords, to continue his battle against Formula 1 and its relations with countries that disrespect human rights: “There are two roads that F1 can go down. One is that of moral vacuum into which leaders and administrators seem to be headinghe said in London at a press conference organized by the Bahraini Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD). “The other route is what some riders are taking (the reference is above all to Lewis Hamilton, nda). These riders understand that they can use the platform not just for the good of the sport, but for good and for change. Plus they understand that they cannot ignore human rights violations in the country where they drive“.
The “gag” of the FIA
Scriven, however, underestimates how the Federation has imposed silence on the pilots themselves on political and religious topics during the race weekends, as long as a specific question does not arrive at the press conference or in the paddock interviews. Pilots are clearly free to use their social profiles as they wish.
Sportswashing
BIRD stated that the human rights of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were “increasingly trampled on” after the 2022 races and accused Formula 1 of contributing to this operation of sportswashingthat is to clean up the image in the eyes of the world through the organization of sporting events.
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