Ukraine challenges FIA over Russian motorsport return

The Ukrainian Automobile Federation has challenged the FIA over its decision to reinstate Russian and Belarusian motorsport competitors under their national flags and anthems.

The Ukrainian motorsport body said it had lodged a formal complaint with the FIA Ethics Committee, asking for an urgent investigation into the Russian Automobile Federation.

The complaint follows an August 3 decision by the FIA World Motor Sport Council to lift restrictions on the participation of Russian and Belarusian drivers, national teams, individual competitors and officials, as well as restrictions on national symbols, colours, flags and anthems.

The Ukrainian federation said the Russian Automobile Federation has offices in Crimea and in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts, territories recognised as Ukrainian by most of the international community. It argues that operating in Ukraine breaches FIA rules because the international federation can recognise only one national sporting governing body per country.

FAU lawyer Robin Binsard said the measures had been introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and that “the situation in Ukraine remains unchanged and the conflicts persist”.

Motorsport.com reported that Russian drivers Robert Shwartzman and Daniil Kvyat could be among those affected by the legal reinstatement. The easing of restrictions does not mean Formula One will return to Russia, as the FIA ended its contract for the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi.