FIM on Anthony West: “Too many messes to react to desperate text..."

FIM President Jorge Viegas has responded to Anthony West’s accusatory social media posts in which he claimed the governing body was ‘corrupt’ and allowed Marc Marquez and Valentino Rossi to ‘cheat’ their way to title success.

The ex-MotoGP rider is currently serving a two-year racing ban for doping offences, though competed in the Brazilian Superbike Championship last year, which he understood to not be covered by the suspension handed down by the FIM.

However, after West received a notification from the FIM reminded him of the terms of his suspension, the Australian reacted with a lengthy post on Facebook in which he said he was quitting racing before claiming the FIM favours certain riders.

Read the full post here...

Now the FIM has responded to West’s claims, saying it has no interest in pursuing action against him because there are ‘already too many messes’ regarding a rider who it says has ‘gone down roads that are not the best’.

"The subject of Anthony West is already perpetuated for too long ... unhappily,” Viegas told Spanish newspaper Marca. “He was a great rider who has gone down roads that are not the best. At this time there are already too many messes for us to react to this desperate text.”

Viegas goes on to say ‘everything [the] FIM has done is in accordance with the agreements we have with WADA (sport’s doping body)’.

West, who competed with Kawasaki in MotoGP for two seasons in 2007 and 2008, went on to compete in the Moto2 World Championship for several seasons thereafter. However, after first failing a drugs test in 2012, West was again handed a doping suspension in 2018 for two years which was due to end in September 2020.

Signing for Kawasaki in Brazil, West claimed last year the Japanese company pulled financing once contacted by the FIM, though he continued to race without sponsorship.