- Emirati Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum owns it The world’s largest operation in the world has finally won the largest sports race. A source said that the ruler of Dubai obtained a lot of good intentions through his investments in the troubled industry, which helped him avoid differences regarding the alleged treatment of his daughters and former wife, and the previous use of knights for children in the beauty race.
Sovereignty got better than the press, as the two horses raced the final term on Saturday Kentucky Derby. It was a success of more than four decades in the manufacture of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a leader Dubai And the most influential owner in horse race.
SovereignEspecially from the states of the oil -rich Persian Gulf, made an indelible sign of global sport. While he was involved in soccer and Golf He got most of the main headlines and allegations.Wash sports– Sheikh Muhammad Geodfin It has become the largest operation in the world. Even for sport is often poured scandalHowever, the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates was accused of participating in serious differences.
In 2020, the British Supreme Court Ruling Sheikh Muhammad had kidnapped two of his daughters, a ruling that came after Princess Haya bint Al -Hussein fled to the United Kingdom for fear of her safety. Sheikh Muhammad maintained his denial of the allegations and said that his position as head of state prevented him from participating in the process of investigating the court.
About two decades ago, Sheikh Muhammad was accused To facilitate the slave trade for young children who served as a Persians in the beauty race, although the case was rejected in the US Federal Court. The family denied these allegations and said that it worked to clean this sport.
Moreover, Godolphin’s stables in Europe were nearly a drug test in 2013, which led Eight -year ban For one of its former coaches.
However, the race in Sheikh Muhammad helped him to brag him a lot of good intentions. This included a close relationship with the late Queen Elizabeth, who admires this sport.
Nicholas McGihan, an expert on workers’ rights in the United Arab Emirates, said to him. New York Timesand GuardianAnd Deputy. “I think it was very good to his reputation and allowed him to ride some of these corruption scandals. I think if he did not have Godoline in the UK, he will be a more scrutiny.”
Godolphin Usa and EAE did not respond wealth Comment requests.
Godflin on top
The race for horses in Sheikh Mohamed started buying one farm in the English town of Neumartet, the historical axis of sport, in 1981. Today, Godolphin is a race around the world on four continents.
The horseshow of the radish was in Decrease For some time, but the impact of Sheikh Mohamed’s investment was clear. Once again in Newmarket, McGihan, the sheikh is mainly a local hero.
McGihan, a former former researcher at Human Rights Watch and a co -founder of him FairsquareIt is an organization looking for human rights violations related to labor immigration, political repression and sports.
Godolphin also achieved its mark in North America, where it won the prize of the most distinguished continent in both the past five years. The victory of sovereignty on Saturday may be the first victory for Jodfin in Kentucky Derby in 13 attempts, but the stable dominance of sport is indisputable.
After I brought the derby to the house 3.1 million dollars Grand Prize, Godolvin leads all North American owners of $ 8.4 million in total profits this season, for each. EquiBase. Calumet Farm, founded in 1924, is the closest in the rankings of about $ 1.8 million.
On Saturday, Godolphin became the first owner to win in both Kentucky Oaks, which was held the day before my derby, and the main event in Churchill Downs since 1952. Now, the stable of Sheikh Muhammad has the final bullet in the legitimacy of horse racing: the victory of the triple crown.
Sovereignty will just 14Y The horse to do this if he can follow a derby victory with victories in Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes on May 17 and June 7, respectively. However, coach Bill Mout did not commit to making the horse run on this rapid shift.
Disputers of a camel camel
Regardless, the rise of Godolphin reflects the amazing growth of Dubai from a small desert port to a global trade center, and features the longest building in the world and the most second international airports. Like other Persian Gulf states, the United Arab Emirates has been criticized for its treatment 8.7 million Migrant workers, who make up more than 80 % of the country’s population.
Workers in the United Arab Emirates are now able to join the trade unions, leave their job, or leave the country without the permission of the employer, According to To the Council of Foreign Relations. However, these repairs are more cosmetic improvements, as McGhehan said, from the basic changes in the system in practice.
He said: “It is still the case, in many senses, financially identical to the 10th and 15th situation.”
This is not the case when it comes to popular sport Camel race. Mcjehan said that the ruling families in Dubai and Abu Dhabi helped to transform the traditional festive practice in the Bedouins into a large competitive industry to show their credentials as rulers, starting in the eighties and nineties.
Dramatic, light children have become the favorite knights, and the laws prohibiting their use in the United Arab Emirates did not end this practice immediately. In 2005, a a report From the US State Department, she said that children who reach two years are smuggled from countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sudan to work in this industry. They often faced physical and sexual assault, many died or seriously injured after falling from beauty while they were trampling.
and HBO Expose The previous year helped incite the growing general criticism and political pressure. In 2006, a lawsuit was filed against Sheikh Muhammad and his brother in the US Federal Court to encourage them to trade and enslave the former knights. They were personally serving leaves in selling horses in Kentucky.
A judge in Florida rejected the case because there was no jurisdiction, and the same thing happened in Kentucky.
Soon the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and UNICEF came to the United Arab Emirates’s defense, with a focus on the country’s efforts to return the victims and compensate them. In 2010, however, the fight against slavery released photographs of the children with children competing at the Abu Dhabi Festival. Today, robot knights took the place of children.
“They are constantly looking for such organizations to give the conclusion of approval for everything they do.” McGehan, who wrote in 2013 paper About the issue in the Human Rights Magazine, he said about the Emirates and UNICEF.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
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