“FIA shall promote the protection of human rights and human dignity,” FIA clarify their stance after banning drivers’ political statements
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The FIA
The FIA announced on Tuesday that it would introduce a new ban in the International Sporting Code. This new ban will restrict Formula 1 drivers from making any kind of political statement without the prior approval from the FIA. A lot of criticism was aimed at this decision as expected and the FIA came out with a response to the critics. A spokesperson from the FIA spoke to selected media and issued a statement regarding the new ban. As per the FIA personnel, the highest authority of the motorsport world is just trying to preserve the concept of political neutrality.
“The ISC has been updated in alignment with the political neutrality of sport as a universal fundamental ethical principle of the Olympic Movement, enshrined in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Code of Ethics, together with the principle of the universality set out in Article 1.2,” the statement read.
The statement also revealed that according to the Article 1.2 of the FIA Statutes, the governing body will promote the protection of human rights and will not allow any kind of discrimination based on race, color, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic or social origin, language, religion, philosophical or political opinion, family situation or disability.
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FIA respond to criticisms over their ban on the F1 drivers making unapproved political statements
This new rule means that drivers will no longer be allowed to wear special helmets or T Shirts before the race without special permission from the FIA. The FIA is claiming that they are doing this to try and promote diversity and inclusion. However, the F1 world is not really on board with the FIA regarding this. F1 drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton have used their platform to speak out against various social evils. They have done it through special t-shirts and helmets that they have donned on the race days. F1 will probably not see any of that in the recent future anymore.
The FIA spokesperson continued and said, “The FIA will focus on underrepresented groups in order to achieve a more balanced representation of gender and race and to create a more diverse and inclusive culture.” This ban on making political statements apparently serves the said purpose.
On the other hand, the FIA are going to celebrate their 120th anniversary in 2024, and they are currently hard at work preparing for the celebrations. To commemorate the event, they have decided to make their archives accessible via an e-library which will be open to all who are interested in learning more about the legacy of Formula 1.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)