As tens of thousands from Bahrain’s Shia community demonstrated against this weekend’s Formula 1 race being held amid ongoing violent repression by the ruling Sunni dynasty, how did Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa justify why the race should go ahead?
"I genuinely believe this race is a force for good, it unites many people from many different religious backgrounds, sects and ethnicities," he said.
The standard rationale for sports amid repression – even in the face of obvious evidence to the contrary.
Crown Prince Al Khalifa went on to say:
“I think cancelling the race just empowers extremists…. Having the race allows us to build bridges across communities, get people working together. It allows us to celebrate our nation as an idea that is positive, not one that is divisive.”
Meanwhile, Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, who stood at the Prince's right elbow, had this to say:
"If people have got a complaint about something else, it's nothing to do with F1."
So that's that, then.
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