By pitpass.com (26/06/2003)
June 26 2003

Following a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in Paris yesterday (Wednesday), the FIA has issued the following statement... "On legal advice the FIA has withdrawn the ban on tobacco sponsorship in motor sport voted in October, 2000 (for implementation in 2006) and substituted the following as a recommendation: that motor sport promoters and competitors (including circuit owners, event organisers, teams, and drivers) should cease all forms of tobacco sponsorship from October 1, 2006"

This of course is in the face of the European Union's directive which wants tobacco advertising in F1 banned from late-2005. The EU and FIA had originally agreed on the 2006 deadline but then the EU performed an about-turn and moved the date forward to 2005 a move which the FIA has always contested.

FIA President Max Mosley has warned that a ban in 2005 could result in Europe losing many of its current races with Belgium missing from the calendar this season and Austria (along with at least one other, thought to be San Marino) sure to be missing in 2004.

China and Bahrain are both due to host rounds of the F1 World Championship in 2004, with Turkey, Russia, India and many others queuing up behind.

Despite the European-wide ban on tobacco advertising, races from countries which are less hostile to tobacco advertising would still be beamed into tens of millions of European homes.

This article was written by pitpass.com and is used with permission.