Artem Severyukhin, a 15-year-old Russian karting driver, won the first race of the European Karting Championship, in Portimão, and on the podium, on both sides of the second and third places, Britain’s Joe Turney and Sweden’s Oscar Pedersen, decided to celebrate a Nazi salute.
The young man, who was not prevented by the FIA from competing, one of the penalties implemented by the association after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as he was competing with an Italian license, gave the Romanian salute as he began playing the Italian anthem, followed by uncontrollable laughter.
The video of the moment began circulating on the Internet until it inevitably reached the FIA, which confirmed that it had opened an immediate investigation into the “unacceptable behavior of Artem Severyukhin that occurred at the podium ceremony in the first round of OK. The European Karting Championship class held at Cartodromo Internacional de Algarve, in Portugal “.
“The FIA will soon inform the next steps that will be taken in relation to this issue,” the FIA announced.
Ward Racing, the Swedish team for which the driver raced, is “deeply ashamed of the behavior of a driver who condemns him so strongly”, He distanced himself from the position of the athletewhile also announcing the termination of the contract with Severiukhin.
“Ward Racing condemns the personal actions of driver Artem Severyukhin during the award ceremony on April 10, 2022 in the strongest possible terms as a manifestation of unsportsmanlike behavior and an unacceptable violation of the Code of Sports Conduct. Based on these considerations, Ward Racing sees no possibility to continue cooperating with Artem Severyukhin and will proceed to terminate his racing contract, the team announced on social media.
On Monday, the young pilot recorded a video and posted it on social media, in which he apologized for what happened, and rejected the idea that the gesture was linked to any Nazi or fascist ideology.
“I know I acted like an idiot, and I’m willing to pay for it but I want you to believe that my actions were not in support of Nazism or Fascism. I apologize to everyone for what happened,” Artem said in the video.
The main support of Artem Severyukhin is the SMP Racing program, whose main sponsor is Gazprom. In football, the Russian state energy company felt the weight of the sanctions, specifically with the cancellation of this year’s Champions League final, which was to take place at the Zenit Stadium, in Saint Petersburg.
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