Former Formula 1 driver and winner of the Silk Way rally raid Nikita Mazepin declared in the program “There is a topic!” on that the European Court’s decision to lift EU sanctions against him should serve as a precedent for other athletes.
Earlier it became known that the European Court of General Jurisdiction decided to cancel the EU sanctions imposed against the Russian racing driver. The resolution emphasizes that the sole family connection with his father Dmitry Mazepin is not enough for sanctions to apply to the athlete.
— From the outside, it was hard to believe that you would win the case. But you won. Is this a surprise?
“That’s why my success hasn’t been so brilliant.” The result was completely unexpected. On March 10, the sanctions were extended and my faith was at an all-time low. On March 20, we won the case before the European Court. But the statistics of won cases do not concern us. The affair resonates. I hope this fact will serve as a precedent so that other athletes can fight and win the right to compete on an equal and neutral basis abroad, as I did in F1. We can only hope.
— How did you manage to move this “stone”?
“The “stone” is really huge. The lawyers and I dragged it out for a little over two years. There have been many events and reference points. Last year we received interim measures which should have de jure allowed me to travel to the EU to compete in races, and nothing should have stopped that. De facto, we were only able to obtain a national visa, which allowed me to enter Italy only for a medical examination.
After [санкционные] the measures were returned, and the next day they were canceled. They acted very inconsistently. But from the beginning, my main argument was this: my father and I are linked exclusively by family ties. And according to European Court law, the presence of family ties and these alone are not enough to impose sanctions against someone on this basis. And I am very happy that the European Court has reached a fair and honest conclusion.
— How successful is your fund in helping athletes who find themselves in a similar situation to yours?
— There are some impressive successes. The fund was launched in 2022 at a forum in St. Petersburg. Since then, we have 125 students, about 30 of whom received further education at Moscow State University. I am a graduate student there myself. We use my previous one. And we will continue to challenge the cases of other athletes suspended for non-sporting reasons in court.
– Are you an exception to the rule? Or should all these people invest in fighting for their rights?
— Everyone must fight for their rights, regardless of their country of origin, gender and other factors. I hope that my case will constitute a strong motivation and a precedent so that, first of all, athletes can return to the world stage and represent Russia with the results with which they represented, and these have always been the first and second places,” Mazepin said in broadcast on .
In March 2022, Nikita Mazepin was included in the list of persons subject to restrictive measures adopted by the EU in connection with the situation in Ukraine. This notably led to the freezing of its funds and a ban on entry into the territory of member states. His inclusion on this list was based on his ties to his father, Russian businessman Dmitry Mazepin.
Mazepin competed for the American Haas team in Formula 1 in the 2021 season and took 21st place in the final standings. In March 2022, it was announced that the team was ending its cooperation with him. In early spring 2023, the European Court ruled that Mazepin had the right to enter the EU to participate in races, Grands Prix, training and testing.
Source : MatchTV
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