Meeke competed in Portugal last year with the Sports & You team, driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, and secured the championship title in October. However, he could not be officially declared Portuguese champion.
The reason was Portuguese law, which states that foreign athletes cannot win a national title in an individual sport such as motorsport. Because of this, the Portuguese Automobile and Karting Federation (FPAK) ruled that Meeke could not be awarded the championship.
However, the case did not end there. Sports & You took the matter to Portugal’s Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD), which ruled that the regulation preventing foreign drivers from winning the championship was unconstitutional.
TAD determined that Portugal’s sports law, which restricts national titles to Portuguese citizens, is discriminatory and violates both constitutional and European Union principles, such as equality and sporting fairness.
Additionally, the court ruled that Meeke’s nationality could not be the sole reason for denying him the title, especially as he had won the championship within the established rules. According to TAD, denying a title based on nationality also violates the equality principle enshrined in the Portuguese Constitution.
TAD found that basic sporting principles had been violated in Meeke’s case. The ruling emphasised that a driver who has been allowed to compete and who has scored the most points must be awarded the championship title, regardless of nationality.
“I’m more happy for Hyundai Portugal and Sports & You because for them it’s a matter of principle. With the amount of investment they put into the Portuguese championship, I’m super happy for those guys and they are the ones who went through the due process of the court,” Meeke, 45, told DirtFish.
“For me honestly it makes no difference. Putting a label against my name doesn’t make one bit of difference to me – whether I’m Portuguese champion or not, it doesn’t matter,” Meeke added.
Meeke will continue competing in the Portuguese Rally Championship this season with Sports & You, but this time driving a Toyota Rally2 instead of a Hyundai.
Meeke has won five WRC rallies in his career. He stepped away from the World Rally Championship after the 2019 season.
