IOTA has put an end to any lingering speculation about the continued participation of the Spirit of Qatar Team in the 2009 Class 1 World Powerboat Championship, confirming HE Sheikh Hassan Bin Jabor Al-Thani's decision to withdraw the team with immediate effect.

IOTA General Secretary, Marco Sala said that 'efforts to try to resolve the situation had proved unsuccessful'.

Sheikh Hassan's decision to withdraw the team was sparked by an incident at the start of last month's Norwegian Grand Prix and what he describes as 'the misconduct of teams during the start' and that 'officials were too slow to respond to the matter and the action required to be taken during the race'.