Etihad and Aldar will fight F1 fine

Rasha Elass

• Last Updated: November 09. 2009 5:54PM UAE / November 9. 2009 1:54PM GMT

Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties are to appeal against a £2.8 million (Dh17.2m) judgment ordered this week by a High Court in London for terminating a sponsorship contract with the Force India Formula One team.

The companies switched their sponsorship to Ferrari in 2008, citing conflict of interest with Kingfisher, the airline owned by the Force India shareholder Vijay Mallya.

“Etihad Airways and Aldar Properties were surprised at the judgment and strongly disagree with its conclusions,” said a spokesman for Etihad. “We have been advised that there are strong grounds for appealing the decision.”

The original deal was signed in April 2007, with agreed amounts of $5m for 2007, $6m for 2008 and $9m for 2009. At the time of signing there was no conflict with the team, which was called Spyker. The following year Mr Mallya purchased shares in the team, and agreed not to promote his airline during F1 events, according to media reports.



relass@thenational.ae