Bernie Ecclestone ‘Completely Agrees’ with Vladimir Putin’s Anti-gay Laws, and So Do ‘90 Per Cent of the World’, Says F1 Boss

THE INDEPENDENT: In an ill-advised move, the Formula One boss gave his support for Russia’s controversial laws ahead of the first Russian Grand Prix this year

Bernie Ecclestone has said that not only does he "completely agree" with Vladimir Putin’s anti-gay propaganda laws, but that he believes "90 per cent of the world" do too.

In an ill-advised move, the Formula One boss lent his support for Russia’s controversial legislation, which prohibits the publicity of what it calls "homosexual behaviour" in the country.

"He [Putin] hasn't said he doesn't agree [with homosexuality] just that he doesn't want these things publicised to an audience under the age of 18," Ecclestone told CNN in an exclusive interview.

"I completely agree with those sentiments and if you took a world census you'd find 90% of the world agree with it as well."

"I've great admiration for him and his courage to say what he says," the 83-year-old added. "[It] may upset a few people but that's how the world is. It's how he sees [the world] and I think he's completely right." » | Jenn Selby | Friday, February 21, 2014

Formula One: Bernie Ecclestone Urges Rethink on Bahrain Grand Prix after Human Rights Group Condemns FIA Report

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: In a dramatic about-turn, Bernie Ecclestone was last night trying to reverse the governing body’s decision over the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Formula One's chief executive was part of the World Motor Sport Council which passed a 'unanimous' vote last Friday to reschedule the race for Oct 30, pushing the Indian Grand Prix back to an unspecified date in December, but The Daily Telegraph understands that the 80 year-old has had a change of heart and written to Formula One's 12 teams urging them to express their discontent and demand a re-vote.

That will have come as a surprise to FIA president Jean Todt who spent yesterday conducting a PR offensive in Paris, claiming that everything in Bahrain was "back to normal" and defending the decision to reinstate the race.

Todt’s argument backfired somewhat when the report on which the WMSC's vote was based was dismissed as "blinkered" by a human rights group who said the member who compiled it only consulted with persons and organisations sympathetic to Bahrain's ruling Al Khalifa family.

During the two-day trip last week, FIA vice-president Carlos Gracia met Sheikh Abdulla bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the president of ASN, Sheikh Mai bint Mohammed Al-Khalifa, the Minister of Culture, Sheikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, the Minister of the Interior and Sheikh Salman bin Essa Al-Khalifa, the CEO of the Bahrain International Circuit.

Gracia also met Tariq Al Saffar, of the National Institute of Human Rights, who he quoted as saying "inaccurate information has been very bad for the country and does not help to improve the situation". Alex Wilks, campaign director for Avaaz, a web-based human rights group, called the report a "whitewash". » | Tom Cary, F1 Correspondent in Paris | Tuesday, June 07, 2011

Hitler? He got things done, says Formula One chief Bernie Ecclestone
TIMES ONLINE: Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One chief, said yesterday that he preferred totalitarian regimes to democracies and praised Adolf Hitler for his ability to “get things done”.

In an outspoken interview with The Times, the 78-year-old billionaire chastised contemporary politicians for their weakness and extolled the virtues of strong leadership.

Mr Ecclestone said: “In a lot of ways, terrible to say this I suppose, but apart from the fact that Hitler got taken away and persuaded to do things that I have no idea whether he wanted to do or not, he was in the way that he could command a lot of people, able to get things done.

“In the end he got lost, so he wasn’t a very good dictator because either he had all these things and knew what was going on and insisted, or he just went along with it . . . so either way he wasn’t a dictator.” He also rounded on democracy, claiming that “it hasn’t done a lot of good for many countries — including this one [Britain]”. >>> Steve Bird, Ruth Gledhill and Sam Coates | Saturday, July 04, 2009