Formula One commercial boss Bernie Ecclestone said today he would diminish his role in the group's operations pending the outcome of a bribery trial set to start in April.
The mop-topped 83-year-old motor-racing magnate was charged last July in relation to a $44 million (32 million euro) payment he made to former German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky which was linked to the sale of the Formula One championship rights in 2006.
"According to current plans, the trial is set to start at the end of April," the regional court in the southern German city of Munich said in a statement.
The diminutive tycoon, who turned Formula One racing into one of the world's most profitable sports events, has repeatedly denied he did anything wrong.
But the German court's decision to proceed to trial will create deep uncertainty about his future in the sport.
As a first consequence, Formula One said Ecclestone would step down as head of its holding company pending the outcome of the German trial, although he intends to continue to run the sport on "a day-to-day basis".
"After discussion with the board, Mr Ecclestone has proposed and the board has agreed that until the case has been concluded, he will step down as a director with immediate effect, thereby relinquishing his board duties and responsibilities until the case has been resolved," the holding company, Delta Topco Limited, said in a statement.
"The board believes that it is in the best interests of both the F1 business and the sport that Mr Ecclestone should continue to run the business on a day-to-day basis, but subject to increased monitoring and control by the board. Mr Ecclestone has agreed to these arrangements."
Ecclestone has been under investigation on suspicion of bribery and incitement of fraud since Gribkowsky was convicted of taking an illegal payment when the Formula One rights were sold in a 2006 deal.
