The Russian Automobile Federation (RAF) monitors Russian riders not only in the Dakar Rally marathon, but monitors the whole situation on the international scene, the organization is aware of what is happening in all areas and provides all kinds of assistance to athletes, RAF spokeswoman Maria Melnikova told .
On Wednesday, Dakar-2017 winner Sergey Karyakin told that to be admitted to the Dakar, riders must sign a statement condemning the Russian special operation in Ukraine. The Dakar Rally is a round of the World Championship organized by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA). The FIA has previously required riders to sign a similar declaration.
– The RAF monitors the situation with the Russian riders not only in the Dakar, but monitors the whole situation on the international scene. The RAF is aware of what is happening in all areas, the federation is providing all kinds of assistance, Melnikova told . — But there are some points related to the decisions taken in March.
It was the RAF that tried to make the conditions for the participation of Russian riders in international competitions as flexible as possible. In many other sports federations, the participation of Russians (in international tournaments) is usually not discussed, but we have some options. Initially, two options were offered: either the athlete signs the same paper (without special operation support), or he receives a secondment from the RAF and receives a license from another state. And many went exactly the second way.
There are friendly federations, for example in Kyrgyzstan, which cooperate with us in this direction. We are very grateful to them, because thanks to them, many of our riders have been able to ride in international series.
The RAF believes that the priority should be the riders’ careers. If in some other sports you can skip a season and then come back, then in motorsport that’s almost unrealistic. This mainly applies to young guys moving up from junior championships to senior championships.
The RAF has taken a number of steps in this direction. For example, RAF President Kiryanov resigned from the position (member of the World Sports Council) of the FIA as a concession to the international federation so that it meets the requirements for the participation of Russian riders in competitions. And now we are continuing the dialogue with the international federation, including on these documents (for the admission of riders to competitions). I know that Kiryanov communicates several times a month with the head of the international federation about possible concessions for the Russians.
– What does the RAF think of the Russians’ decision to compete with another nationality?
– There are people in Russia with two passports, and they have the right to use the second passport to continue their performances. For them, it is a means of subsistence.
On Wednesday, Rally Raid World Cup winner Konstantin Zhiltsov of Russia told he had changed his sporting citizenship for the opportunity to compete in the Dakar rally. According to , the 57-year-old sailor will compete under the flag of Israel.
Source : MatchTV
