Bahraini government uses ‘sports diplomacy’ to cover up human rights abuses

Following the 2011 pro-democracy protests, Bahraini authorities suspended approximately 120 athletes and sports club personnel, including twenty-seven members of national sports teams. As journalist Karim Zidan recently documented, while the Bahraini government subjected many of these athletes to torture and other forms of reprisal, it has simultaneously used sports to divert attention from such ongoing[…]

November Champions for Justice: Athletes

November 2015 – Athletes and sports figures have played an active part in Bahrain’s pro-democracy movement since it began in February 2011, and the Bahraini government has punished them harshly for it. Police arrested and suspended over 150 athletes, sports personalities, and club staff in relation to the protests. Those arrested include 27 members of[…]