The Automobile Federation of Ukraine has filed an appeal to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the World Motor Sport Council concerning the latter’s decision to lift restrictions on Russian and Belarusian competitors. Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports was also informed of the matter.

“The Russian Federation continues its armed aggression against Ukraine with the support of the Republic of Belarus,” begins the FAU’s announcement on Saturday. “Russian attacks continue to kill and injure civilians every day, destroy sports infrastructure, and cause losses among the Ukrainian sports community. Over 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have been killed, including those in motorsports who will never be able to take the start again.

“Under these circumstances, returning the national symbols of the aggressor countries to international sports competitions cannot be considered a neutral or purely sporting measure.”

Such action by the FAU is to be expected as the full-scale Russian invasion continues four and a half years later. The FIA leadership stood in solidarity with Ukraine by implementing the emergency measures, which required drivers and teams from Russia and allied Belarus to condemn the war and switch to neutral or other nationalities if they wished to compete in FIA-sanctioned events, a week after the invasion launched. The FIM has a stricter ban that its board of directors agreed in February to keep and remains in place as of today.

However, the WMSC quietly ruled on August 3 to end the FIA’s restrictions before informing ASNs ten days later. As a result, Russians and Belarusians are now free to take part in international races under their respective countries’ flags and symbols with no caveats.

The FAU did not immediately respond because the sudden news drop had been taken everyone by surprise, so time was needed to do their due diligence and formulate a proper response. In the meantime, several Ukrainian racers and officials expressed shock at it. The Latvian Automobile Federation, the ASN for one of Ukraine’s biggest allies, pointed out that the WMSC came to the decision without consulting other FIA member clubs.

“A decision of this magnitude, made without proper public discussion with the national federations and hardly a convincing explanation for why the restrictions were lifted, undermines confidence in international sports governance,” an FAU steward commented.

The appeal can be boiled down to five points:

1. Russia’s invasion is ongoing.
2. Russia and Belarus use sports in state propaganda.
3. Allowing the national symbols of aggressor countries contradicts the principles of fair play and raises ethical and safety concerns.
4. The WMSC decision risks negative consequences for unity within the international motorsport community.
5. International sports policy concerning these countries should not be revised without taking Ukraine’s own position and the “actual state of the war” into account.

The Russian flag and other national emblems like the coat of arms were already prohibited from FIA events prior to 2022 because of the state-sponsored doping program. Now that they and Belarus’ icons are permitted again, the FAU fears those countries will “use sports as a tool for propaganda and legitimize their actions.

“The use of national symbols in the global sports arena has not only sporting, but also obvious political and social dimensions. Bringing them back against the backdrop of an ongoing war creates the false impression that relations have been normalized and the international isolation of aggressor states weakened.”

Some ASNs already permit the Russian flag at the national level, where local policies take precedence as the races are outside of the FIA’s jurisdiction. The FAU believes applying this globally “risks deepening the divide in the international motorsport community and may negatively affect the participation of other national federations and athletes in international competitions.” The LAF, in support of Ukraine, stressed it will enforce the insignia ban for races within its territory.

Similar protests have been made by Ukraine’s other athletic federations in response to their global authorities relaxing embargoes against Russian athletes. When the International Olympic Committee provisionally ended its ban in July, the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“Gentlemen like Infantino have shown that anything with ‘world’ or ‘international’ in their name can interpret reality in their own way,” the FAU official continued, referring to beleaguered FIFA head Gianni Infantino. “Right now, we need to respond properly and do everything we can.”

Featured image credit: SKARLAT-XTRM Team