Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa will debut his Bahrain Project WorldTour cycling team at the Tour de France as they seek to be racing by 2017. He confirmed this news in a recent post on social media that read, "Bahrain Cycling Team will inspire, race hard, and look elegant."
But the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) have sent a joint letter to the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) requesting that the Bahrain Cycling Team‘s application for a place on the WorldTour is rejected. Indeed, the groups point to allegations of human rights violations made against Nasser, including torture.
Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, BIRD’s Director of Advocacy, explained his point of view in a statement sent to Cyclingnews. "Prince Nasser is throwing money at the international cycling to use it as PR to whitewash his past in Bahrain. It's the duty of the UCI to reject the Bahrain Cycling Team WorldTour license. We believe Prince Nasser’s involvement as the head of a team would be in violation of article 2 of the UCI Code of Ethics (CoE), which protects against breaches of principles that include human dignity, non-discrimination against political opinions, non-violence and harassment, integrity and political neutrality. In addition, he is also in breach of Article 6 which provides that all parties to the Code must not have relations with any organisations, companies or persons whose activities are incompatible with the principles set out in the Code."
20.04: EPZ Omloop van Borsele |
17.04 - 21.04: Tour de Tunisie |
18.04 - 21.04: Eroica Juniores |
19.04 - 21.04: EPZ Omloop van Borsele |
20.04 - 21.04: Gipuzkoa Klasika |
21.04: Liège-Bastogne-Liège |
21.04: Giro della Romagna |
21.04: Gent-Wevelgem U23 |
21.04: Gent-Wevelgem Junior |
21.04: Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes |
Rosane KIRCH 48 years | today |
Ludwig FAGERSTRØM 22 years | today |
Andrea ROSSI 45 years | today |
Ruben ABELLO SANCHEZ 48 years | today |
Jordan PARRA 30 years | today |
© CyclingQuotes.com