Camel racing is a popular
sport in Pakistan, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain,
Jordan, Qatar, United Arab
Emirates, Oman, Australia,
and Mongolia. Professional
camel racing, like horse
racing, is an event
for betting and tourist
attraction. Camels can run
at speeds up to 65 km/h
(18 m/s; 40 mph) in short
sprints and they can
maintain a speed of 40 km/h
(11 m/s; 25 mph) for an
hour.
Children are often
favored as jockeys
because of their light
weight.
Many child camel
jockeys are seriously
injured by falling off
the camels. Camels are
often controlled by
child jockeys, but
allegations of human
rights abuses have led
to nationwide bans on
underage labor in the
UAE and Qatar.
The United Arab
Emirates was the first
to ban the use of
children under 15 as
jockeys in camel racing
on 29 July 2002. .
In Qatar, banned child
jockeys in 2005 and
directed that, by 2007,
all camel races would
be directed by robotic
jockeys