BCHR | Joint Letter to the President of the International Federation o
 

26-04-13 09:47 AM

To: Mr. Joseph S. Blatter
President
International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA)
CC: Asian Football Confederation (AFC)
Subject: Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa’s nomination for Chairman of the AFC
We are writing this letter to urge you to reconsider nominating Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa for the position of the AFC Chairman and the position of membership of the executive office of FIFA in the next due election on 2 May, 2013. We hope that you bear in mind the sublime principles of sport and fair play that respect basic human rights and to distance all violators of human rights from reaching prestigious sport positions in order to embellish their notorious image.
Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa is involved in human rights violations with the assistance of his office and consultants against players, administrators, referees and clubs who participated in the democracy protests in February 2011. We would like to bring to your kind attention the most important acts of revenge carried out by Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa against groups that are affiliated with football.
• On 20 April 2011, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa chaired a periodic meeting for the Bahrain Football Association [1], where he emphasized that the Association has to implement the resolutions of the inquiry commission [2] and to work on eliminating anyone who proves to have participated in the peaceful protests, whether administrators, referees, and the members of the running committees of the Bahrain Football Association.
• Turning the “Shabab” and “Malkiya” clubs to the second degree football league, and fixing the “Sitra”, “Tadhamun”, “Etifaq” and “Etihad” clubs in the second degree football league, in addition to fining each club with a sum of approximately $8,000 USD, because of the absence of the amateur football players from the matches due to the deteriorating security situation against the protest participants[3].
• Fining the “Shabab”, “Malkiya”, “Sitra”, “Tadhamun”, “Etifaq”, “Etihad”and “Ahli” clubs a sum of approximately $4,000 US, per club, per age group, that did not participate in the scheduled matches by the Association due to the deteriorating security situation against the protest participants [4].
• After the announcement published by the Bahrain News Agency, the Bahraini Authorities published photos of the athletes and tried them on live TV [5]. This campaign continued to summon athletes, raid their homes or even the training fields and arrest them as had happened to the two football players Alaa Hubail and Mohammed Hubail.
• The arrested (players, administrator and referees) were subjected to torture and abuse in prison by the National Security Apparatus.
• The Bahrain Authorities brought the detainees forth to a military trial after their arrest and the Court sentenced some of them, among them the National football player Mohammed Hubail, with two years in prison.
• The Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) documented several cases where football players, coaches, referees and administrators were subjected to suspension or arrest and torture and even military trials [6].
To conclude, the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights and the Bahrain Center for Human Rights believe that the world’s most popular sports should respect human rights, and we ask you to put an end to the practice of using the sport of football to polish a poor background in human rights, and who use the sport as a tool for human rights violations and abuse. Please withdraw the nomination of Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa’s to the position of chairman of the AFC.
Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Mohammed Al-Maskati
President – Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights/ [email protected]
Ms. Maryam Al-Khawaja
Acting President – Bahrain Center for Human Rights/ [email protected]



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