WRC Drivers Protest Against FIA Swearing Ban in Kenya

Amidst a feud between drivers and the FIA, most notably in F1, another high-profile FIA-sanctioned sport – the World Rally Championship – has developed a significant push for freedom of expression as drivers collectively decided to remain silent (or speak in only their mother tongue) in stage end interviews during this week’s Safari Rally Kenya.

Since the protest began, the FIA confirmed meetings will be held after the weekend in an attempt to move forwards with the drivers.

The protest came after Hyundai driver Adrian Fourmaux was controversially fined €10,000 plus a €20,000 suspended fine for “inappropriate language” during a post-stage interview during last month’s Rally Sweden.

The fine is part of the FIA’s sanctioning of driver misconduct in televised interviews – a provocative topic among opinions of fans, drivers, pundits, journalists – practically everyone who believes limiting an athlete’s freedom of expression during or immediately after an event of such intensity is unnecessary.

WRC drivers have also formed the World Rally Drivers Alliance (WoRDA), a body which acts similarly to F1’s Grand Prix Drivers Association. The WoRDA issued a statement this week “seeking clarity” and searching for changes regarding the FIA’s approach to “driver misconduct”:

The statement highlights the intense nature of the sport, essentially pointing out how silly it is to expect a driver (or co-driver) to act perfectly in accordance at all times – especially when exposed through media attention more than ever before.

It also shows how detrimental such “disproportionate” fines can be – in terms of budget for part-time and non-professionals and critically for younger drivers’ careers.

And a topic of debate for years: where does the fine money go? Both the WoRDA and GPDA have raised questions over the transparency of where monetary fines are spent – to which the FIA have never seriously addressed, therefore adding to the mistrust and lack of clarity.

The calls for urgent and mutually agreeable solutions must be dealt with appropriately by the FIA – for the sake of the drivers, the fans and most importantly world-class motorsport.