DOHA: Qataris commenting on local social networking sites have reacted sharply to media reports about one of their sports stars, Nasser Khalifa Al Atiyah, having not been allowed to attend the opening ceremony of Abu Dhabi Rally.
Politics should not be mixed with sports, was the gist of the comments posted on social networking sites yesterday.
Contacted for comment on the controversy by this daily,
Al Atiyah said he wouldn’t since he was a representative of an international organisation.
Vice-President of Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA: International Automobile Federation), Al Atiyah said: “I cannot comment on what happened since I am a representative of an international body”.
Local Arabic dailies Al Sharq and Al Raya reported that Al Atiyah was not permitted to participate in the opening ceremony of the Rally due to security reasons.
“He went to Abu Dhabi to take part in the opening ceremony and he was startled when he was not allowed that privilege,” Al Sharq said. He was not there as a Qatari official but as a representative of the FIA, the daily said. He was prevented by the Rally organisers from getting on to the podium and flagging off the event as planned, and was rather asked to leave.
“Security reasons were cited for not allowing him to do that. Clearly, this is mixing politics with sports,” said Al Sharq. “The Rally organisers were obeying orders of the powers that be.”
Before the opening ceremony, Al Atiyah addressed a press conference. Nothing of what he said at the news briefing appeared in the local media, according to
Al Sharq. A sports TV channel in Abu Dhabi had fixed an interview with him that was cancelled. He was told of the cancellation when he reached the TV station’s headquarters.
“Al Atiyah immediately left Abu Dhabi and came back to Doha without making any fuss about it,” the daily said.
Al Raya, meanwhile, reported that it was Al Atiyah who brought the Rally back to the Middle East: to Abu Dhabi. There were some problems earlier and Abu Dhabi was cancelled as a venue. “What happened to Al Atiyah in Abu Dhabi was not impromptu. It was planned. If not, the Rally organisers would have called and asked him not to come to the opening ceremony,” Al Raya said.
The organisers have denied and said they didn’t prevent him from attending the opening ceremony, according to the daily.
Most commentators on local social networking sites have expressed displeasure. One said action should be taken against the UAE for taking such a step against the FIA vice-president.
Another said: “It seems that our brothers in Abu Dhabi are determined to aggravate the misunderstanding with us (Qatar)”.
“They are spoiling cooperation with us,” said another commentator about Abu Dhabi, referring to the incident.
“It is better to leave politics to our leaders and rulers. Public involvement in politics can create more problems,” suggested another person taking part in the debate.
“It was an insult caused (to a fellow Qatari). They meant to humiliate him. I will not accept it. They should have asked him not to come (to Abu Dhabi). We need to treat Emiratis in the same way,” said one commentator.
Another, though, said Emiratis had nothing to do with the incident. “They are our brothers so they are welcome here.”
Yet another suggested that what happened to Al Atiyah in Abu Dhabi showed that Qataris wouldn’t feel safe if they went to the UAE.
“If security was the reason, as they say, they should not be holding the event (rally)”, was how another commentator reacted. “Clearly, the reason is political.”
One commentator quoted Yaqub Al Sadi, Director, Abu Dhabi’s sports TV channel, as telling a news website that the interview with Al Atiyah was not fixed. “So where is the question of cancelling it.”
“In our channel, we welcome all sports personalities without any exception,” he was quoted as saying.
On the networking site, the head of the organizing committee of Abu Dhabi Rally, Ahmed Al Kaabi, was quoted as saying that the report by a Qatari daily about Al Atiyah had no element of truth. “We are surprised by the false report. We accorded a warm welcome to Al Atiyah. We treated him well and with respect. The Qatari media reports are baseless.”
According to the commentator, Al Kaabi, however, added that Al Atiyah was not scheduled to attend the opening ceremony of the rally. “His participation was not planned. The FIA had not informed us.”
Al Kaabi scoffed at media reports suggesting that Al Atiyah was prevented from attending the opening ceremony due to security reasons. “That’s ridiculous. We hold more important events than this rally. We even hold Formula One which is attended by thousands,” said Al Kaabi, as claimed by the commentator on the social networking site.
The Peninsula
