The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has filed a lawsuit against the russian racer Artyom Sievieryukhin, the official FIA site reports.
Sievieryukhin celebrated his victory in the first stage of the European Karting Championship in Portimau, Portugal with a Nazi gesture.
While on the podium, the 15-year-old athlete showed a "Roman salute" - punched himself in the chest and raised his outstretched hand at an angle. Then Sievieryukhin laughed.
The FIA YouTube channel broadcasted the award ceremony, but the video was soon removed. The FIA has also removed from its website all publications related to the results of these competitions.
Sievieryukhin formally competes in the tournament with an Italian licence and for the Swedish team Ward Racing due to the sanctions imposed on russia. That is why in the protocol of the athlete there is an Italian flag, and, on a podium, the Italian anthem sounded.
Meanwhile, the Italian National Automobile Club demanded to revoke Sievieryukhin’s racing licence, and the Swedish team announced an early termination of the contract and apologised to anyone who was offended or affected by the athlete's gesture
Sievieryukhin is the winner of the russian karting championship in 2019 and 2020.