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The Automobile Federation of Ukraine has filed a formal complaint with the FIA over the governing body’s decision to restore Russian and Belarusian flags, anthems and national symbols to international motorsport, demanding an urgent review of the ruling and of the standing of its Russian counterpart, the RAF — a federation led by a man on the UK, US and EU sanctions lists.
The FAU told the FIA it held a position of “categorical disagreement” with the World Motor Sport Council’s decision of 3 August 2026, and called on FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and WMSC members to “urgently review and cancel the decision of August 3, 2026, and restore restrictions on the use of state symbols of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.” The federation said the move had “come as a complete surprise” and cited more than 650 Ukrainian athletes and coaches killed since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, motorsport competitors among them.
What the FIA actually changed — and how
The decision was taken by the World Motor Sport Council on 3 August but only reached member clubs on 13 August, through a circular from the FIA’s legal department. There was no press conference and no published rationale beyond alignment with International Olympic Committee guidance issued on 7 July.
The circular removed the emergency measures introduced in March 2022 almost in full:
- Russian and Belarusian drivers, national teams, individual competitors and officials may take part in international and zone competitions “without any restrictions”
- The requirement to sign a commitment to neutrality no longer applies
- National symbols, colours and flags are permitted on uniforms, equipment and cars
- National anthems may be played
One restriction survives: no international or zone competition may be staged on Russian or Belarusian territory until further notice. The FIA added that it continues to monitor events in Ukraine and reserves the right to impose further measures, including anything required to comply with applicable sanctions regimes.
That timeline is central to Ukraine’s complaint. A governing body that publicised its 2022 sanctions in a statement from an extraordinary WMSC meeting reversed them via an internal legal circular ten days after the vote — during the run-up to the Dutch Grand Prix weekend of 21-23 August, when the paddock’s attention was elsewhere.
The federation at the centre of it
The RAF has been an FIA member since 11 December 1992, a year after its formation. Its president since May 2024 is Boris Rotenberg, the billionaire and long-time associate of Vladimir Putin who succeeded Viktor Kiryanov after his 21-year tenure. Rotenberg has been under US sanctions since 2014, following the annexation of Crimea, and was added to UK and EU lists after the 2022 invasion.
His response to the ruling left little doubt about how it is being read in Moscow. “Sport and culture should be outside of politics — they unite peoples,” Rotenberg said. “Justice has triumphed.” He described “full restoration of the membership of the Russian Automobile Federation in the FIA” as the most important step — language that goes beyond athlete eligibility to the RAF’s seat in the FIA’s decision-making structures.
That is precisely the point Ukraine is pressing. The FAU’s original 2022 submission to the FIA asked for four things: a ban on competitors holding Russian and Belarusian licences racing outside their own countries, a prohibition on the two nations hosting FIA-sanctioned events, a bar on state symbols, and the exclusion of all Russian and Belarusian members from the FIA itself. Three of those four have now been unwound. The FAU argues the reversal hands legitimacy to bodies that use “sport as an instrument of state propaganda,” and that returning the symbols of “aggressor countries” contradicts the principles of Fair Play while creating “serious ethical and security risks.”
Where this goes next
Ukraine’s minister of youth and sports has written separately to Ben Sulayem and the WMSC requesting reconsideration, escalating the matter from federation to government level. The FIA has not publicly responded to either letter.
Reversing a WMSC decision requires the WMSC itself, and Ben Sulayem is understood to have driven the change. The practical questions arrive sooner than any vote: whether Russian licence holders appear in FIA junior categories, rallying and endurance racing under a national flag this season, whether promoters and circuits in countries maintaining sanctions accept them, and whether the RAF’s restored status carries voting rights while its president remains sanctioned in three jurisdictions. The FIA’s next General Assembly will be the first forum where that answer cannot be delivered by circular.
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**Word count:** ~730 words (article body, excluding tags).
Facts verified against reporting from RaceFans, RacingNews365, Motorsport.com, GPFans, Reuters wire copy and the FIA’s own 13 August circular. One note: the sourced record shows the FAU demanding urgent *review and cancellation* of the 3 August decision and, since 2022, the RAF’s exclusion from the FIA — I framed the “investigation into the RAF” angle around those documented demands rather than asserting a formal ethics-committee case, which I could not verify.
Sources: [RaceFans](https://www.racefans.net/2026/08/13/fia-lifts-post-ukraine-war-ban-on-russians-competing-in-motorsport-without-explannation/) · [RacingNews365](https://racingnews365.com/ukrainian-motorsport-federation-appeals-to-fia-to-overturn-russia-inclusion) · [Motorsport.com](https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ukraine-federation-calls-for-fia-ban-on-russian-licence-holders/8574659/) · [GPFans](https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1089159/f1-fia-controversial-russia-belarus-ban-overturned-ukraine-statement/) · [FIA circular (13 Aug 2026)](https://api.fia.com/system/files/documents/13.08.2026-circular_note_-_update_on_the_fias_response_to_the_conflict_in_ukraine_-_decision_of_the_world_motor_sport_council_dated_3_august_2026_0.pdf)
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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