Cypriot drivers are being prevented from international competition due to an ongoing dispute with the country’s national governing body of motorsport.
All Cypriot entrants to this week’s Greek national championship round – the Fthinoporino Rally – were forbidden from competing after the Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA) suspended all competition licences late last week. Drivers from other disciplines are also affected.
As the FIA-recognized sporting authority for motorsport, the CAA has sole control over licenses for Cypriot competitors. As is the case with all ASNs, the Cyprus Automobile Association has the power to veto its national competitors attempting to acquire licences from other national governing bodies.
DirtFish has learned that six Cypriot competitors attempted to acquire licenses from OMAE, the Greek ASN, only for their requests to be blocked by the CAA.
The issue is not impacting all Cypriot-licensed drivers, with two-time European Rally Champion Alexey Lukyanuk (who competes under the Cypriot flag), able to tackle Spain’s Rallye Villa de Teror while the CAA’s suspension of licenses was in force.
Motorsport is continuing on a national level in Cyprus, though the CAA claims any motorsport events will now be considered unrecognized competitions by the FIA.
DirtFish sources have indicated the CAA’s action should have been underpinned by an FIA bulletin confirming such a move.
Constantinos Sioferos is one of the competitors currently blocked from competing in the Greek national championship due to the CAA's revocation of licenses
DirtFish has contacted both the CAA and FIA for comment.
The Cyprus Rally, formerly a World Rally Championship round, and scheduled to be this year’s Middle East Rally Championship season finale, was cancelled last week. The CAA is responsible for its organization.
DirtFish understands this late cancellation was due to the CAA being unable to secure government funding or permits from government departments to run stages.
Cypriot rally driver and president of the Cyprus Motorsport Athletes Association Constantinos Sioferos is one of the competitors unable to compete in the Greek championship due to the CAA’s suspension of licences.
“We don’t feel our ASN respects us,” Sioferos said. “They have taken away licenses without reason. We are not criminals. We are athletes who love this sport. Yet every time, we are punished. Enough is enough. This is not about politics. It is about respect for athletes. Motorsport belongs to the competitors.”
The CAA’s September 26 statement reads:
“The Cyprus Automobile Association (CAA), as the official representative of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) for the entire territory of Cyprus, announces that it has received notification of a decision of the FIA, dated 25 September 2025, addressed to the competent authorities of the Government of Cyprus. In this decision, the FIA informs the Government that, due to the continued removal of the CAA from the CSO’s registry — a measure that deprives the Association of its Sporting Authority status and, by extension, challenges the international standing of the FIA as the World Governing Body for motor sport — it has resolved that, as of 25 September 2025, the following shall apply:
“1. All motor sport competitions in Cyprus are unavoidably deemed by the FIA as Unrecognized Competitions.
“2. All competition licenses issued by the FIA’s representative (Competition Licenses) and held by Cypriot nationals are rendered invalid, while the issuance of new licenses to applicants is simultaneously suspended.
“3. Through an official communication to its 245 national sporting authorities (ASNs), the FIA is compelled to notify the prohibition of license holders from these countries from participating in motor sport competitions held in Cyprus.
Cyprus Rally, once a regular fixture of the WRC, has now been cancelled entirely due to organizational issues. The CAA is responsible for its organization.
“The CAA expresses its deep disappointment, as the decisions of the competent state authorities have severed the long-standing and excellent relations of our country with the world’s largest Sporting Federation, thereby harming motor sport and its competitors, Cypriot sport in general, as well as Cyprus’s broader interests — political, economic,
cultural, and social. The CAA remains the sole representative of the FIA in Cyprus and will do everything in its power to restore the relations of the Republic of Cyprus with the FIA.”
DirtFish sought CAA clarification on the above statement on September 29.
The Cyprus Motorsport Federation, which was granted sporting authority to run motorsport events in a 2012 agreement with CAA, is currently working on its competitors’ behalf to obtain permission for Cypriot nationals to compete in motorsport events this weekend.
DirtFish understands the Cyprus Ministry for Education, Sports and Youth has written to the FIA to find a workable solution.
Frustration is building, with one senior source in Cypriot motorsport adding: “There is a conflict between the CAA, the Cyprus Sports Organization and the Ministry of Education and Sports. This is understood and has been going on for years now. The feeling is that this is a CAA decision – we cannot demand [the FIA] to do something but we are putting pressure on them to change the CAA’s decision.”
