Formula 1 Chief Bernie Ecclestone has called the Bahrain government ‘stupid’ for choosing to host the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, as pro-democracy protests escalate leading up to the race.
Speaking to the BBC, Ecclestone said,
"The government here were stupid, in a lot of ways, to put this race on... It is a platform for people to use protesting.”
As thousands of protestors took to the streets, Ecclestone went on to say,
“I haven’t seen any of the people here wanting to go to Syria or Saudi Arabia… There are lots of places they could go – Iran, if they wanted. But they seem happy to stay.”
The F1 boss was also questioned about the link between sport and politics, and questioned on whether Formula 1 would go to countries where human rights violations occur such as Syria. Ecclestone was reminded that Formula 1 did not go to South Africa after 1985, due to a sporting boycott of the country, because of their apartheid policies.
Excerpts of that interview have been reproduced below:
BBC Sport's Dan Roan: I understand the argument between politics and sport and sometimes it's not for sport to make those decisions but do you think there's a line and F1 has to make a decision...are there certain places F1 can't go? For instance if Syria said come and race in Damascus and we'll give you a fortune to do so, what would you do?
Bernie Ecclestone: But we don't have a circuit there
DR : If they did…?
BE : We'll have to have a look and see
DR: You can never take a moral stand in sport you don't think? In South Africa you did for example?
BE : We don’t go anywhere to judge how a country is run… I keep asking people, what human rights - I don’t know what they are.
See the full interview and report from the BBC here.
