F1 funds Syria track near mass hangings site

Grants will be used to develop sporting facility close to notorious prison where 13,000 were killed

MONEY from Formula One has been used to fund a racetrack in Syria just a few miles from a jail where as many as 13,000 people have been executed.

Company documents show that the Syrian Automobile Club was awarded funding for a track to develop a new generation of drivers to eventually compete in a national championship.

The funds came from a grant scheme from F1’s governing body, Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which operates in 144 countries. F1 funds the regulator.

Syria had already been given money for safety equipment for its racing. But now money has been granted for a full circuit for karting, a feeder sport for F1.

Reports from the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) show that the SAC has arranged numerous races sponsored by the government-controlled Ministry of Tourism.

In 2017, Amnesty International claimed as many as 13,000 people had been executed by President Bashar alAssad’s regime at Sednaya jail, amid a five-year campaign of torture.

The US State Department echoed those claims, saying that a crematorium had been built there to dispose of bodies after the mass hangings of thousands of inmates.

F1 has no control over how the FIA invests the money it receives.

There is also no suggestion that the projects which have been given funding are illegitimate or that any sanctions have been broken.

However, Chris Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), says that “a delicate balance has to be made between not supporting a regime that continues to commit war crimes and grave human rights abuses, and at the same time not penalising Syrian people who have to be able to have a life”.

Syria is still a member of the International Olympic Association, FIFA and other sporting bodies. Mr Doyle added: “Supporting grassroots sporting activities that can help Syrians recover from the trauma of war and oppression might be valuable.

“But at the same time, all efforts must be made to prevent the Syrian regime from abusing this for nefarious public relations purposes that attempt to burnish its credentials amongst its own people.”

Since the FIA scheme was launched in 2014, a total of €14.1million has been paid out.

Although it isn’t clear how much the SAC received, the maximum amount available for each grant is €50,000 so it could have got as much as €250,000 over five years.

F1 declined to comment on the matter yesterday.

The FIA said in a statement: “All grants are subject to internal scrutiny and the FIA will continue to lead the way in ensuring compliance.”

Over the past eight years, Syria has been ravaged by a bitter civil war which has left more than 400,000 people dead and led to 11.7million Syrians requiring aid this year alone, according to data from the United Nations.