The Russian Automobile Federation condemned the incident with the Nazi salute

The press service of the Russian Automobile Federation (RAF) issued a statement on the situation with 15-year-old race car driver Artem Severyukhin, who used a gesture similar to a Nazi salute, during the celebration of victory at the stage of the European Karting Championship.

Severyukhin celebrated his victory at the first stage of the European Karting Championship, which took place in Portimao, Portugal, with a Nazi salute on April 10. The athlete competes under the Italian flag due to the sanctions of the International Motor Sports Federation. The FIA ​​has not made any official statements regarding this incident yet.

“The Russian Automobile Federation reports that it is aware of what happened on Sunday, April 10, at the awarding ceremony of the European Karting Championship, when Russian athlete Artem Severyukhin, who competed under an Italian license and for the Swedish team, made a gesture that some perceived as a “Roman salute” , - the RAF press service said in a statement to RBC.

The athlete himself explained his behavior with emotions, and also noted that his gesture was addressed to his team as a thank you, and he did not put any bad meaning into it.

“We consider unacceptable any, even an accidental manifestation of fascism and Nazism in Russian motorsport and among Russian athletes. Our further comments on how the incident will be regarded and what measures will be applied to the athlete will follow later, after the meeting of the Sports Council, ”the release says.