Sports Minister Petri Honkonen told Keskifinomainen in an email that the FIA should have prevented the Russians from participating.
19:11•Updated 19:27
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The participant list of the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship, which will be held in a week, is heating up behind the scenes. The participation of Russian competitors in the World Cup rally arouses anger. Three Russian contestants have registered for the competition.
– We have to act according to the instructions of the International Automobile Federation FIA. Competitors drive without national emblems, and they do not use their country’s flags or national anthems, states the CEO of AKK-Motorsport ry, the national association of Finnish motor sports Riku Bitter for STT.
In addition, the competitors have signed a document condemning the attack on Ukraine.
– This is a disgusting situation. It is an international competition and then we go according to the rules and guidelines of the FIA. If it were a national competition, then we would act differently.
– In the current season, Russian drivers have competed in Croatia, Portugal and Sardinia after the war of aggression against Russia, with these same FIA instructions.
In the World Rally in Sweden, Russian car athletes were also involved, because Russia’s attack on Ukraine started when the rally started.
Keskisuomalainen previously reported on the situation at the Jyväskylä World Cup Rally. According to the magazine, the Russian racers coming to the rally are driving in the RC5 series Vitaly Antonov as well as driving a Skoda in the RC2 class Nikolai Grjazin and his map reader Konstantin Alexandrov.
In July, the Estonian Ministry of the Interior denied entry to Grjazin and Aleksandrov, so the athletes could not participate in the World Rally Championship in Estonia.
The Minister of Sports shifts the responsibility to the FIA
Minister of Science and Culture responsible for sports Petri Honkonen (central) thinks that the FIA, the international automobile association, should have prevented Russians from participating in the Jyväskylä World Rally Championship.
Honkonen tells the newspaper that as sports minister, he cannot decide to prevent entry to the country.