As much as €150,000 ($180,200) of money generated from Formula 1 has reportedly been given to a Syrian motorsport organization that has "strong links" to Syria President Bashar al Assad's government, according to Jack de Menezes of the London INDEPENDENT. FIA has granted up to €50,000 ($60,000) per year since '14 to the Syrian Automobile Club as part of its Sport Grant Programme, a scheme that is "dedicated to developing motor sport." FIA allows grants to be paid to all 245 members, "with the money generated directly from F1 in an effort to filter finances down the motorsport ladder to improve grassroots racing." The money has helped fund motor racing events in Syria over the last three years, but an investigation "revealed that many of these events were sponsored by the Assad regime." Furthermore, Syrian Tourism Minister Bishir Yazigi "has used these events" to publicly praise the Assad regime. Yazigi is "currently barred from entering the European Union under EU sanctions and his European assets have been frozen" because he "shares responsibility for the regime's violent repression against the civilian population," according to EU filings (INDEPENDENT, 9/7).
