Mosley on attack over tobacco ban

The FIA warned yesterday that European races had been put at risk and criticised the European Commission over plans to introduce a tobacco ban in Formula One from 2005.

The world council of FIA, the sport's governing body, stopped short of abandoning its own self-imposed deadline of October 2006 for banning tobacco advertising at its meeting in Monaco yesterday. But the FIA president Max Mosley warned that if the European Union goes ahead with its earlier date then teams would be forced to seek events in countries not affected by any ban.

Mosley added that another consequence will be teams extending their contracts with cigarette companies beyond the current cut-off date of 2006.

FIA released a three-page letter to the EU's Health Commissioner, David Byrne, as it responded to the decision to introduce a ban from July 2005 instead of the World Health Organisation date of October 2006.

"Frankly the FIA is astonished at the inconsistency of the Commission's behaviour," said Mosley, in the letter. "To change the date of implementation was gratuitous and irresponsible. The Commission has demonstrated a limited understanding of the issues at stake and a quite extraordinary failure to anticipate the consequences.

"As a direct consequence of the Commission's actions the proposed ban on tobacco sponsorship in Formula One now faces considerable problems.

"By choosing a date earlier than the world date, the EU will now force teams to seek events outside the EU during part of 2005 and all of 2006 in order to observe contracts which do not expire until the end of 2006.

"Such events will inevitably themselves seek long-term contracts and allow tobacco sponsorship. The probable consequence is that the tobacco contracts which currently expire in 2006 will soon be extended beyond that date."