Petition in support of Bahrain's detained and suspended athletes

posted by Women in Sport International
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 10:17pm EDT

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As this blog reported earlier in the week, at least 200 athletes from Bahrain have been removed from their national teams. The athletes, who have been referred to as "Jocks for Justice, have been removed from their teams because they attended protests against their government. Some of them have also been arrested.

A petition has begun circulating online, addressed to the heads of all major international sport organizations, requesting that they immediately suspend all Bahrain teams from regional and international competition in protest of the government's action. I wonder how, or if, these organizations will respond?

The petition is available online here.

The full text of the petition states:

Mr. Jacques Rogge - President, International Olympic Committee
Sh. Ahmed Al Sabah - President, Asian Olympic Committee & AHF
Mr. Sepp Blatter - President, FIFA
Mr. Mohammed Bin Hammam - President, AFC
Mr. Yvan Mainini - President, FIBA
Sh. Saud Al-Thani - President, FIBA Asia
Mr. Jizhong Wei - President, FIVB
Dr. Saleh Bin Nasser - President, AVC
Dr. Hassan Moustafa - President, IHF
Mr. Jean Todt - President, FIA
Mr. Bernie Ecclestone - President & CEO, FOM, FOA & FOCA

We, the undersigned,

Ask all the sport federations, and international & regional sport committees to suspend all Bahrain sport federations from international & regional participation. This is until they restore the rights of the Bahrain athletes in representing their country without being punished for their personal political views, and ensure that the Bahrain national sport teams are representative of all Bahrainis without discrimination of any sort or form.

The aforementioned events clearly show the discrimination towards athletes based on their own personal political stance and/or sect, and their suspension from practicing their sports is not based on any sporting misconduct. We are appalled by the decisions taken by the sport federations in Bahrain, and refuse their participation of any sort in sport events on this basis.

We ask for an immediate suspension of all sport federations in Bahrain on all regional & international levels.

Yours truly,

The undersigned petitioners.

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Petition in support of Bahrain's detained and suspended athletes

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