Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Local Bahraini Al-Ayyam newspaper dismissed head of sports department Akil Al-Sayed as well as sports journalist Abdullah Al-Babetin after the newspaper published a poll recording a drop in the national clubs content with the performance of the Ministry of Youth.

There are conflicting reports to the moment about the situation of Akil Al-Sayed, head of the sports department. As information confirm that he was dismissed from the sports department and that Nasser Mohammad was hired in his place, it is said that Akil Al-Sayed has been fired from the newspaper. There is further information saying that he was asked to stay home and wait until Nasser bin Hamad's angry wave recedes.

However, what was the conclusion of the poll that angered Nasser bin Hamad, the king's son, who controls, along with his brother Khalid, all sectors of sports in Bahrain through Nasser's presidency of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports, and Khalid's presidency of the Olympic Committee, noting that whoever comes as a Minister of Youth and Sports has to follow the king's sons orders and implement their projects.

The poll reflected the opinion of the clubs with regards to the performance of the Ministry of Youth and Sports in the national clubs sector, during the first half of 2019, based on 10 indicators of measurement including the financial, administrative, technical, control and infrastructure services provided by the Ministry to the national clubs. A sample of 58 participants, mostly workers and members of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, clubs and national federations, participated in the survey amounting to 60%, 8% also participated from the media and 32% from the clubs' general public.

The poll posed ten questions, the most important of which was: what is your overall assessment of the services provided by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to the national clubs? The results came as follows: weak 53.4%, average 25.9%, good 12.1%, excellent 6.9%, very good 1.7%.

The poll questions were as follows: Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports developed the legislation organizing the work of clubs? Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports increased the percentage of implemented legislations supporting sports investment?

Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports developed the administrative and organizational structures in the clubs? Do the clubs receive appropriate government financial support from the Ministry of Youth and Sports? Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports worked to increase the implementation of professional systems in national clubs? Have the strategies of the Ministry of Youth and Sports led to increasing the percentage of Bahraini professional players in the national clubs? Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports worked towards increasing the number of teams participating in foreign (international) competitions from national clubs? Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports succeeded in reducing administrative and financial irregularities in national clubs? Has the Ministry of Youth and Sports developed administrative systems in national clubs? Has the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports upgraded the infrastructure of national clubs? And finally: What is your overall assessment of the services provided by the Ministry of Youth and Sports to national clubs?

Almost all the answers in the poll weren't in favor of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. Journlist Al-Babetin concluded from the overall survey results that the rates of satisfaction with the Ministry of Youth and Sports in national clubs declined to very low levels, noting that this may be due to the accumulation of many issues over the years without solutions, which exacerbated problems and the difficulty of implementing urgent reforms in the club system. The results can also be explained by the fact that the employees in the clubs do not feel the positive impact required in the services provided by the Ministry of Youth and Sports.

Arabic Version