Robert ShilkovichKorrespondent SportAll materialsThe current winner and 19-time champion of the Dakar Rally, the KAMAZ-master team, will miss the race in 2023. The decision was made after the demand of the International Automobile Federation (FIA) to condemn the Russian special operation in Ukraine. The truck champions were asked to sign a special questionnaire. The Russian team considered such a measure to be overly politicized. «The participation of Russian athletes in the Dakar rally is due to the need to sign an FIA questionnaire condemning the Russian special operation in Ukraine. In our opinion, the content of this document is political in nature, and also violates the principles of equal conditions for athletes. We consider it impossible for ourselves to sign such documents and participate in competitions on such conditions. Our choice is obvious — we are always with our Motherland, especially when it is in a difficult situation,» the team said in a statement. The team's position was confirmed by the head of «KAMAZ-master Vladimir Chagin. He also named another reason for not allowing the team to compete. According to him, KAMAZ-master will not be able to compete at Dakar-2023 due to EU sanctions.
"We were told the second reason for the refusal is that KAMAZ is under sanctions, in top of the sanctions list of Russian enterprises. EU legal entities are prohibited from doing business with sanctioned Russian enterprises. Accordingly, we cannot be allowed to compete for this reason. And this is no longer the competence of the sports court. The pressure comes from all sides", said Chagin.