The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson became available by chance for Friday's basketball
game between Michigan State and top-ranked North Carolina in the inaugural Carrier Classic
in San Diego.
Mike Whalen of Morale Entertainment Foundation said Monday that he had anticipated the game
would be on the USS Ronald Reagan, but plans changed after it was sent to Japan to aid in
recovery efforts after the March earthquake and tsunami.
"It had nothing to do with bin Laden," Whalen added of the venue change.
In May the Carl Vinson, an active warship, was used to transport the body of Osama bin
Laden to sea after he was killed in Pakistan by U.S. Special Forces.
Whalen said since then he has been asked occasionally if it could be viewed as
disrespectful to play the game on a ship used to transport bin Laden's body. Whalen said he
doesn't see a valid connection.
Scholars interviewed by USA TODAY agreed there is no religious connotation between bin
Laden's burial and the ship but one saw the possibility for the perception of
insensitivity.
"There is nothing sacred about this deck or the deck of any ship for Muslims," said Akbar
Ahmed, chair of Islamic Studies at American University in Washington, D.C., and former
ambassador for Pakistan to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. "Osama bin Laden was not
buried on that ship. He was not a religious saint or figure. His followers saw him as a
religiously inspired freedom fighter but not as a saintly figure.
"In Islam saintly figures don't say, 'Let's kill innocent women and children.' For most
Muslims he created problems and pain."
The ship was nothing more than a medium of transportation for his body, Ahmed added.
Steven Wright, an assistant professor who leads the department of international affairs at
Qatar University, said in an e-mail of the game, "I do not see why this would be an issue
at all."
Mahmoud Ayoub, professor of Islamic Studies at Harford Seminary, said in an interview in
July he didn't anticipate religious significance but there could be cultural symbolism for
some Muslims.
"Many people — Muslims — may think that this is an unnecessary celebration of the death
of Osama bin Laden by staging a basketball game on the aircraft carrier that received his
body," Ayoub said.
So far the game has not attracted much attention around the world. In Qatar, Wright had
been unaware of the game. By Friday night that could change. ESPN is airing the game and
U.S. dignitaries, including President Obama, are expected to attend. The game is the first
of its kind.
Ayoub said the venue should've been changed. "If the sports people of this country would
like to celebrate the strength of America by playing games on an aircraft carrier, that's
understandable, but in this case it would offend people."
That would be a misinterpretation of the game, which has been touted as a means to honor
and entertain the armed forces on Veterans Day.
Most Muslims will understand that, according to Ahmed.
"This is a great college event," he said. "Because it's on the deck of a major ship, it
brings much more attention. We wish it great success."
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