F1’s Loss or Bahrain’s??

F1 Commercial Chief Bernie Ecclestone returned the multi-million Dollar Cheque to Bahrain in a refund of the license fees the Gulf State paid in hosting the annual event and this is what he said, “I want to be loyal to the King (Of Bahrain), because he is doing everything he can to put things right with his people. He doesn’t need people like me stabbing him in the back. Right from the start, we talked about the problems there, and he was straight with me. I am not there and I do not know properly what problems they are having. But the King was concerned about Formula One and our Safety, which is why he took the decision to call off the race”

This few lines are not something a die hard Formula 1 fan like me would want to hear and that too the host being my 2nd home “Bahrain”. It’s just too unfortunate that the event will not happen as scheduled but sources say that once the civil unrest in the Kingdom comes to an end the race will happen in the month of November provided the racers and the teams are agreeing to it. Formula1 governing body in its part is estimated to be loosing $100 million from the cancellation in revenues and being the season opener it’s considered to be a very important affair. The news came in the early hours on Monday, the 21st of February just 3 weeks before the green signal in the Sakhir Circuit was lit.

The last 10 days in Bahrain has not been the typical Bahrain I had known for years and it was reported that people came on to the streets and have gripped the country. Several protesters have been killed in the anti-government demonstrations. Some of the protesters has protested telling that the government was trying to defuse the situation only to ensure that the race can go ahead but the Crown Prince on behalf of the King cleared the allegations and announced the cancellation of the big event. The Crown Prince stressed on the importance of Political stability in the country and having the Sport a secondary concern.
The whole issue revolving Bahrain started in 1999 when the then Aamir of Bahrain Sk.Isa passed away and Sh Hamad took charge as the Aamir of Bahrain. A referendum poll was held the next year as to the need of Bahrain to be a Kingdom and Sh. Hamad became King Hamad of the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2001 with the referendum poll 97% YES in favor of the King. What I don’t understand is that very percentage of people are now against him putting charges that he has not been loyal to the Shia’s who comprise of the majority of the population of Bahrain.
How much Bahrain loses from the cancellation of the race depends on whether it can stage the race later in the year or not. If it can, presumably the race fee takes care of itself and the only expense Bahrain would have to incur the $20 million for the inconvenience of moving the calendar around. It is understood that the already issued tickets online and other media will be reimbursed by the organisers. (Its obvious that they have to do itas Formula1 being an expensive sport)
Now as far as tourism is concerned it could loose atleast $700m in revenues and this is because of the civil unrest in the Kingdom. Hotels, travel agents and toursim operators in the country stand to lose millions during this period and this is evident from the drastic drop in the number of foreigners coming into the country over the last 2 weeks and this will continue if the situation remains the same. The whole country’s economy is affected & Bahrain being a small country it cannot afford to loose this share of the Nations Income. Things get worse for small time vendors like restaurants where the weekend business is stopped from people coming from other neighboring countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The civil unrest has to stop and for the benefit of the country they need to come to terms and negotiations have to happen in full swing to keep the spirits of “Long Live Bahrain” alive.