He quickly landed on his feet. Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, ousted from the Haas Formula 1 team after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, announced on Wednesday March 9 the creation of a foundation to support athletes losing their jobs. “for political reasons”.
This foundation “will be dedicated to helping athletes who, for political reasons beyond their control, lose their ability to compete at the highest level”explained the 23-year-old pilot during a virtual press conference.
Today I am announcing the creation of a new foundation to help athletes who have been blocked from competing for political reasons. #WeCompeteAsOne
—Nikita Mazepin (@nikita_mazepin) March 9, 2022
Nikita Mazepin did not stop there and said more about the funds of the association: “It will be funded by Uralkali, using the money that was earmarked for the partnership in Formula 1 this season”, he specified. Title sponsor of Haas since 2021, the Russian group Uralkali has seen its contract terminated “with immediate effect” by the American team last Saturday, at the same time as the driver’s contract.
Nikita Mazepin, 23, is the son of Russian billionaire and oligarch Dmitry Mazepin, shareholder of the Uralkali group, which specializes in the production of potash.
“The foundation will allocate financial and non-financial resources to those athletes who have spent their lives preparing for the Olympics or Paralympics, or other high profile events, only to find that they are ultimately banned from competition and collectively sanctioned. simply because of the passport they hold”
Nikita MazepinPress release
Baptized “We Compete As One”, the name of the foundation obviously recalls that of the F1 initiative in favor of diversity “We Race As One”. The foundation will help “athletes from all conflict zones” and “will start with the Russian Paralympic team, which has been banned from the Beijing Games”he concluded.