Aug 18 – Ukraine has urged motorsport’s world governing body to reconsider lifting a ban on competitors from Russia and Belarus in international events.
The BBC reported Ukraine’s Minister of Youth and Sports had written to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem requesting the decision be reconsidered. Boris Rotenberg, president of the Russian Automobile Federation , hailed an important day for Russian motorsport when the FIA’s decision was announced.
Ukraine’s Automobile Federation said in a statement the FIA move had “come as a complete surprise”. “Sport and culture should be out of politics they are the ones that unite peoples,” said the oligarch, who remains on the European Union’s sanctions list and is a close associate of Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a statement on the RAF website.
An FIA spokesperson said on Tuesday the requirements for Russian and Belarusian drivers, teams and officials had been updated following a vote by the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council.
