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BAHRAIN’S sporting calendar has taken another hit as a result of continued one-sided hysterical coverage by international media outlets and online campaign groups.
The parents of children competing in international junior karting championships were frightened by recent reports, a racing source told GulfWeekly, and expressed their concern to the organisers about travelling to the kingdom for the third and final round.
The CIK-FIA U18 World Championship and the Academy Trophy were set to take place in November to link with a rescheduled F1 race which was cancelled after drivers, teams and sponsors were inundated by a co-ordinated anti-Bahrain internet campaign by an activist group.
A spokesman for the Commission Internationale de Karting of the FIA (CIK-FIA) said following discussions with the Bahrain Motor Federation and Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), it was ‘mutually agreed’ that the Bahrain fixtures should be re-located for this season to bring it in-line with the decision of the BIC last month to withdraw from hosting the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix during this season’s racing calendar.
“CIK-FIA recognise the extraordinary effort and investment made by the BIC in the construction and establishment of a new state-of-the-art karting track, which was due to be unveiled at November’s races, and very much looks forward to the Bahrain event returning to next year’s CIK-FIA calendar,” he added.
The news will bitterly disappoint Bahrain schoolboys Adeeb Kuzbar, 14, and Abdulla Al Thawadi, 15, who are representing the kingdom in the competitions and were looking forward to racing in their home country.
However, they competed in Italy in the first round last weekend and will be racing again in France in August. The venue for the final series has yet to be announced.
