Post by QPR Report on Nov 12, 2009 7:16:44 GMT
Guardian/Richard Williams
Flavio Briatore to demand €1m payout from FIA• World Council 'blinded by desire for revenge' alleges Briatore
• Pat Symonds to join Italian's appeal to overturn lifetime ban
Flavio Briatore, the former Renault principal banished from Formula One for his part in the Crashgate scandal, will allege that the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA, chaired by Max Mosley, was "clearly blinded by an excessive desire for personal revenge" when he appeals against his life ban from motor sport in a Paris court later this month.
Documents seen by the Guardian reveal that Briatore is asking for a total annulment of the FIA's instruction to its members – race organisers, teams or drivers – not to have any dealings with him. He is also demanding a minimum of €1m (£900,000) in compensation for the damage to his reputation. The case will be heard by France's high court, the Tribunal de Grande Instance, on 24 November.
The Guardian also learnt yesterday that Pat Symonds, Renault's former executive director of engineering, will join Briatore's appeal, attempting to have his own five-year ban overturned on the grounds that the FIA, the international motor sport federation, and its World Council conducted the original hearings in an improper fashion.
Briatore and Symonds were accused by their former driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, of instructing him to crash during the 2008 Singapore grand prix to secure a victory for the team's No1 driver, Fernando Alonso. Whereas Briatore denied all knowledge of a conspiracy, Symonds alleged that the idea had been thought up by the driver himself. The affair came to light as a result of Piquet's allegations after he had been sacked by the team in August.
At an FIA hearing in September, following the resignations of Briatore and Symonds, Renault were also handed an indefinite ban from motor sport – but in their case it was suspended for two years. Shortly afterwards the French team announced their decision to remain in Formula One.
Briatore claims that many of the procedures adopted during the original investigation and hearing were contrary to both the FIA's International Sporting Code and the laws of France, where the federation has its headquarters. The 58-year-old Italian's statement of claim refers to "the excessive and abusive power clearly exercised by both the World Council, in particular, and the FIA, in general" and "the breach by the World Council of the most basic rules of procedure and the rights to a fair trial".
The "obligation to boycott" Briatore, the statement says, is not among the sanctions authorised by the Sporting Code. According to Professor Didier Poracchia, a specialist in sporting law at the University of Aix-Marseille, "the most serious sanction available to the World Council is disqualification" – entailing the withdrawal of the licence of the offending party. As a general manager and driver's agent, however, Briatore has never been required to hold a licence.
In failing to separate the prosecuting, investigating and judging roles, Briatore claims, the FIA breached the rules concerning fair trials established by the European Convention on Human Rights. "The decisions to carry out an investigation and to submit it to the World Council were taken by the same person, Max Mosley, the FIA president," the statement says. Mosley "assumed the roles of complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge".
During 2009, the statement alleges, there had been "some extremely violent disputes" between Briatore, representing the Formula One Teams Association, and Mosley. "Mr Briatore had, in the constructors' names, in fact threatened the FIA and the FOM (Formula One Management) group ... to instigate a parallel competition, organised without the FIA and without the FOM as rights manager."
The disputes over the threat of a breakaway series, it continues, led Mosley to abandon his plan to stand for a fifth term as president in last month's election and forced Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive of the FOM, to grant the constructors more favourable financial terms for their participation.
Ecclestone, it adds, "took part and was able to vote in the deliberations of the World Council, and was a directly interested party in Renault not suffering a sanction that might discourage it from continuing its participation in the Formula One world championship and could, moreover, be hostile to Mr Briatore as a result of stances taken by him during the previous year on behalf of the constructors involved in Formula One."
The outcome of Briatore's appeal is likely to determine his ability to continue in his role as the chairman and majority shareholder of Queens Park Rangers. The Football League has said that it will wait for the result of the action before discussing the question of whether he has breached their fit-and-proper-persons rule.
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/12/flavio-briatore-fia-appeal-ban
Flavio Briatore to demand €1m payout from FIA• World Council 'blinded by desire for revenge' alleges Briatore
• Pat Symonds to join Italian's appeal to overturn lifetime ban
Flavio Briatore, the former Renault principal banished from Formula One for his part in the Crashgate scandal, will allege that the World Motor Sport Council of the FIA, chaired by Max Mosley, was "clearly blinded by an excessive desire for personal revenge" when he appeals against his life ban from motor sport in a Paris court later this month.
Documents seen by the Guardian reveal that Briatore is asking for a total annulment of the FIA's instruction to its members – race organisers, teams or drivers – not to have any dealings with him. He is also demanding a minimum of €1m (£900,000) in compensation for the damage to his reputation. The case will be heard by France's high court, the Tribunal de Grande Instance, on 24 November.
The Guardian also learnt yesterday that Pat Symonds, Renault's former executive director of engineering, will join Briatore's appeal, attempting to have his own five-year ban overturned on the grounds that the FIA, the international motor sport federation, and its World Council conducted the original hearings in an improper fashion.
Briatore and Symonds were accused by their former driver, Nelson Piquet Jr, of instructing him to crash during the 2008 Singapore grand prix to secure a victory for the team's No1 driver, Fernando Alonso. Whereas Briatore denied all knowledge of a conspiracy, Symonds alleged that the idea had been thought up by the driver himself. The affair came to light as a result of Piquet's allegations after he had been sacked by the team in August.
At an FIA hearing in September, following the resignations of Briatore and Symonds, Renault were also handed an indefinite ban from motor sport – but in their case it was suspended for two years. Shortly afterwards the French team announced their decision to remain in Formula One.
Briatore claims that many of the procedures adopted during the original investigation and hearing were contrary to both the FIA's International Sporting Code and the laws of France, where the federation has its headquarters. The 58-year-old Italian's statement of claim refers to "the excessive and abusive power clearly exercised by both the World Council, in particular, and the FIA, in general" and "the breach by the World Council of the most basic rules of procedure and the rights to a fair trial".
The "obligation to boycott" Briatore, the statement says, is not among the sanctions authorised by the Sporting Code. According to Professor Didier Poracchia, a specialist in sporting law at the University of Aix-Marseille, "the most serious sanction available to the World Council is disqualification" – entailing the withdrawal of the licence of the offending party. As a general manager and driver's agent, however, Briatore has never been required to hold a licence.
In failing to separate the prosecuting, investigating and judging roles, Briatore claims, the FIA breached the rules concerning fair trials established by the European Convention on Human Rights. "The decisions to carry out an investigation and to submit it to the World Council were taken by the same person, Max Mosley, the FIA president," the statement says. Mosley "assumed the roles of complainant, investigator, prosecutor and judge".
During 2009, the statement alleges, there had been "some extremely violent disputes" between Briatore, representing the Formula One Teams Association, and Mosley. "Mr Briatore had, in the constructors' names, in fact threatened the FIA and the FOM (Formula One Management) group ... to instigate a parallel competition, organised without the FIA and without the FOM as rights manager."
The disputes over the threat of a breakaway series, it continues, led Mosley to abandon his plan to stand for a fifth term as president in last month's election and forced Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive of the FOM, to grant the constructors more favourable financial terms for their participation.
Ecclestone, it adds, "took part and was able to vote in the deliberations of the World Council, and was a directly interested party in Renault not suffering a sanction that might discourage it from continuing its participation in the Formula One world championship and could, moreover, be hostile to Mr Briatore as a result of stances taken by him during the previous year on behalf of the constructors involved in Formula One."
The outcome of Briatore's appeal is likely to determine his ability to continue in his role as the chairman and majority shareholder of Queens Park Rangers. The Football League has said that it will wait for the result of the action before discussing the question of whether he has breached their fit-and-proper-persons rule.
www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/nov/12/flavio-briatore-fia-appeal-ban
