Abu Dhabi’s application for inclusion in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship from next year has been rejected by the World Motor Sport Council, while both Oman and Iran have been given the nod to be part of an expanded eight-round series.
FIA Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region media coordinator Osama Al Mansour yesterday confirmed that Abu Dhabi will
not be part of the series in 2015, simply saying: “Abu Dhabi is out.”
When asked for an explanation on what grounds Abu Dhabi’s application had been rejected, Al Mansour refused to go into the details and said that the decision had been taken by the World Motor Sport Council.
This unexpected development comes following the news that Abu Dhabi could be awarded as a high class ‘candidate’ event from October 16-17. A candidate event is necessary in order to satisfy the FIA that the host nation is capable of organising a rally to its full satisfaction.
FIA vice president in charge of the MENA region, Qatar’s Nasser Khalifa Al Attiyah, had told Sport360° on October 16: “Abu Dhabi is very strong and the infrastructure here is of the highest quality.
“The organisation too is very professional and the Emirate has a very strong rallying history.”
With this acknowledgement in mind, the rejection of Abu Dhabi’s application has left those hoping for a successful outcome
completely mystified.
Sources familiar with the application process have disclosed that the Abu Dhabi Rally organising committee were reasonably confident and had been waiting for a response from the FIA in order to get the process for next year under way.
Strangely, despite the application being rejected, Abu Dhabi has yet to be officially notified of the World Motor Sport Council’s decision.
It is now understood the organising committee will seek an explanation for the rejection of their application so they know what went wrong.
Some believe the rejection may be linked to the night of October 16, when Al Attiyah was to flag off the first car during the Abu Dhabi trial event but, according to Al Mansour, for security reasons the programme had to be changed and another official flagged off the rally.
According to an official FIA press release, Al Attiyah immediately left for Qatar that night and did not stay on for the full event as was originally planned.
