American president Donald Trump’s decision to order the assassination of l Qassem Soleimani, the leader of Iran’s elite military and intelligence force last week and Iran’s decision to retaliate earlier today by firing missiles at the two US military targets in Iraq does not bode well anyway you look at it.
Whether this turns out into a full-blown war between the two countries or not it would eventually drag in the entire region into conflict. Iraq is already embroiled in the conflict and has taken a measure of trying to absolve itself of the American action with the Iraqi Parliament voting to oust the US troops stationed in the country.
Any further escalation of the conflict by the Americans or the Iranians is almost certain to drag in allies of both countries in the region including Saudi Arabia and perhaps even Israel.
The mere notion of all this happening is also expected to seriously affect the international sporting activities in the region. The lure of big money as well as for some of the region’s regimes rebranding efforts has seen many top events being held in the middle-east.
Among the major events hosted in the region last year includes the World Athletics Championships in Doha and also heavyweight boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr. The cash rich region also hosts major events for Formula 1, tennis and golf. Two year from now, Qatar will be hosting the mother of all sporting events the FIFA World Cup.
The first indication of how the perception of an impending war is affecting sports in the region may be the decision by the American football team to cancel their 20-day training camp in Qatar. The Americans are scheduled to play the Welsh in a friendly match in March. It may be thousands of miles away from the hotspot, but the Welsh are said to be taking no chances and would beef up their security precautions ahead and during the match.
The perceived threat, however, does not seem to have affected the ongoing Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. The lure of big money has also not deterred top American golfers including Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Cantlay, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, Tony Finau and Phil Mickelson from playing in the three PGA golf events in the region this month.
While it is too early to assess the impact the conflict would be putting on the participation of athletes in other events in the region, the ball may have started rolling.
The conflict in the middle east, if it escalates may not be just between nations but could also see the intrusion of the numerous militant and terrorist groups to further take advantage of the situation to promote their cause.
Sports is not an exception to acts of violence as it provides huge exposure for those seeking to promote their cause and the current situation would be a matter of concern for athletes and sports administrators around the world.
Who could forget the darkest day in international sports when the Palestinian militant group Black September stormed the 1972 Munich Games. The group took the Israeli national team hostage, eventually slaughtering eleven athletes and coaches and one German police officer after a 16-hour standoff.
During the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, an ex-American army explosive expert Eric Rudolph planted a knapsack containing three bombs underneath a bench in park, killing two people and injuring 120. Rudolph was not identified until 2003, and is currently serving four life terms, without the possibility of parole, at Colorado’s ADX Florence supermax prison.
The New Zealand cricket team on a 2002 tour in Pakistan, was marred by a suicide bomb blast outside the team’s hotel in Karachi. The players were unscathed but 11 French Navy experts, two Pakistanis and the team’s physiotherapist were all killed.
The same year Basque separatist group E.T.A. detonated a car bomb close to Madrid’s main stadium, the Bernabau, hours before the start of Real Madrid’s Champions League semi-final against arch rivals Barcelona. The bombing came shortly after the arrest of 11 Batasuna (a political party linked to E.T.A.)
Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the threat of such activities has seen many sporting events increasing their security protocols.
Ahead of the Beijing Games, China deployed a massive security presence, saying it had foiled a terrorist hijacking plot, and warning it faced further threats in its Muslim-majority northwest. Just five days before the flame was lit, there was an attack by Muslim separatists in the city of Kashgar in China’s far western Xinjiang region that left 16 policemen dead.
The middle-east has been a hotbed of terrorism, and chances that the current conflict between the USA and Iran could revitalize these terrorist groups, is always there.
The Global Terrorism Index, an annual study by the Institute for Economics and Peace, found that the number of terrorist attacks in the middle-east had declined in 2018. But Iraq, Syria and Yemen remain the countries most impacted by terrorism.
While each group has its own agenda, the one common denominator these groups have is the mutual enemy – the Americans. So it would be no surprise that any escalation between US and Iran would open they path for these group to also ramp up the threat against US allies in the region including the Saudis.
This is further amplified by the American-led coalition in Iraq and Syria deciding to halt its years long campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS) to brace for the retaliation from Iran.
The sports landscape in the middle-east, despite the lure of big money, is bound to change, if no amicable solution to the current crisis is found quickly. The longer the delay, the more uncertain would be the scenario.
And if the crisis escalates, it would also affect major sporting events elsewhere including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It could a security threat or a Games boycott. And in all probability any events featuring American player or teams anywhere in the world would also need to be wary of increased security threats.
It just goes to show that just one act could unleash a dominoes effect that would also affect the sporting world.
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