This week will see the inaugural Saudi Arabian GP at the Jeddah Street Circuit. The inclusion of Saudi Arabia in F1 has been contentious.
Saudi Arabia has been at the receiving end of widespread criticism from the global community over its shoddy human rights record for quite some time. The addition of Saudi Arabia as a Formula 1 hosting country sparked controversy among the F1 community.
Earlier this year, it was announced that the Saudi Arabian GP would have a strict dress code that teams and fans would have to adhere to. While that was retracted after a considerable backlash, Saudi officials will still expect fans to respect the nation’s customs when they visit the Grand Prix this week.
President of the Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation, Prince Khalid, spoke about the criticism that has been directed towards the nation of Saudi Arabia with context to the hosting of a race weekend. He also addressed the ‘dress code’ matter.
“There are no restrictions on dress,” said the Prince. “We expect from the people that they respect the place to which they are coming, the same as any place outside the kingdom,” he said. “So, for example, no one is going to come to the circuit wearing a bathing suit.”
The Khashoggi appeal against
Hatice Cengiz, the fiancee of slain Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, had written an op-ed in the Washington Post. She urged Canadian singer Justin Bieber to cancel his performance at the Saudi Arabian GP.
“Do not sing for the murderers of my beloved Jamal” was her appeal to Bieber. But Prince Khalid believes that Saudi officials are better positioned to talk about Saudi issues rather than celebrities such as Bieber.
“The one that (polishes) the image of the kingdom is not a singer, but its leadership and people…you cannot polish the image of anything or relay a picture different than reality,” said Prince Khalid.
Also read: Lewis Hamilton claims F1 needs to scrutinize Saudi Arabia and Qatar over their human rights issues
“There are many people, among them singers and actors, maybe they did not come (to Saudi Arabia) before. But when they saw the reality and the truth with their own eyes, they said: ‘No, we’re going to come because we now have an idea of everything that happens in the kingdom’.”
The ‘war’ on Saudi Arabia
Prince Khalid said that the crackdown on human rights violations by other countries is unfair and even hypocritical. “There’s been a fight against the kingdom for years, and it is fought for political reasons… some people don’t want its success.”
“There are those that say the kingdom is behind and is against human rights… of course, no one is perfect and the biggest nations that hold on to freedom and human rights have more than their share of criticisms in those fields.”
The Prince then summed up everything with a message from Saudi Arabia to the rest of the world.
“We are confident in ourselves, and this war will continue, and we will continue on our path, and the door is open for all to visit us and know who we really are.”
