AUGUST 29, 2026

Ukraine takes FIA dispute to ethics committee

Ukraine's automobile federation has filed a formal FIA ethics complaint alleging that its Russian counterpart is operating offices in internationally recognised Ukrainian territory.

Ukraine has escalated its dispute with the FIA by filing a formal complaint with the governing body's Ethics Committee against the Russian Automobile Federation.

The Automobile Federation of Ukraine has asked for an urgent investigation into claims that the Russian federation is operating offices in Crimea and Sevastopol, as well as the occupied Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. The territories are internationally recognised as part of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian federation argues that this breaches the FIA rule which recognises one national sporting authority for each country and gives it jurisdiction across that country's territory. It has cited Article 3.3 of the FIA Statutes and Article 1.4.1 of the International Sporting Code.

FAU president Oleksandr Feldman described the alleged activity as a clear breach of the statutes to which every FIA member organisation is bound.

The complaint comes after the World Motor Sport Council decided on August 3 to remove restrictions introduced following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian and Belarusian competitors may again use their national flags, colours and anthems in international competition, and are no longer required to sign a neutrality undertaking.

Ukraine had already asked the FIA to reconsider that decision. The ethics complaint is a separate and more specific move: it challenges the conduct of the Russian federation and the territorial reach it is claiming, rather than merely repeating the argument over flags and anthems.

The FIA says its Ethics Committee first assesses a complaint and then decides whether a full investigation is required. If it proceeds, the committee produces a report for the FIA president and the president of the Senate, who decide what further action may be taken.

The FIA has said that the return of Russian and Belarusian competitors remains subject to international and national law, and that it can impose new measures if sanctions require them.

That leaves the governing body with an awkward question. It has treated the restoration of sporting symbols as a competition policy decision; Ukraine is now asking it to decide whether the Russian federation's alleged activity in occupied territory is compatible with the FIA's own system of national authority.