AKK Sports, the body responsible for organizing Rally Finland, has moved to ban all Russian and Belarusian flags from the event, including barring spectators from waving them out on the stages.
Russian and Belarusian athletes are still allowed to compete in World Rally Championship events, so long as they run under a neutral flag when entering.
That has been the case for Nikolay Gryazin and Konstantin Aleksandrov this season, who have taken on several rounds of the championship in the WRC2 category.
Gryazin and Aleksandrov were barred from Rally Estonia after a decision taken by the country’s interior ministry. Russian nationals were already barred from entering Estonia at the time of the rally taking place and no exemption was made for the all-Russian crew.
No similar decision was taken by the Finnish government, though notably a member of Finnish parliament, Kalle Jokinen, made a public plea for its sports ministry to block Russians from entering Rally Finland.
While Russian crews are still allowed to participate, no Russian or Belarusian flag may be present anywhere along the rally route, meaning any Gryazin fans will not be allowed to wave their nation’s colors in support.
It also extends to all elements of the event, including the service park.
“The use of the national emblems of Russia and Belarus is currently prohibited in international motorsport. We want this to also apply to national flags waved by the spectators along the route,” said Riku Bitter, AKK Sports CEO.
In addition to Gryazin and Aleksandrov, Russian national Vitalii Antonov is also entered into the rally, piloting a Rally5-spec Renault Clio.
