~TheF1TimesGerhard Gribkowsky has been jailed for eight and a half years after he was found guilty of accepting monetary bribes from Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone.
The German banker, then chief risk officer at BayernLB, accepted charges that he bribed Ecclestone for £28 million (£44m) in return for keeping information about the sale of the sport to CVC Capital Partners to himself, rather than referring it to the British tax authorities.
The attention has now turned to Ecclestone himself who, despite giving evidence under immunity, could be investigated and even prosecuted by German authorities.
If also found guilty, the 81-year-old could face up to 10 years in prison under section 334 (1) of the German Criminal Code and that may prompt a British tax investigation possibly costing the Ecclestone family billions in tax payments.
Obviously most of us are aware of this, as we all've seen it on the main page. But this can actually affect the sports.
For those of you Tl;Dr:
So if bernie was fined, it shouldn't be a big problem, as he might just increase hosting prices and skysport f1 costs.1:Bernie ecclestone snitched on the person he bribed, and for now is protected on immunity but still may be fined by law (not listed here).
2:Person he bribed has now found guilty.
3:Bernie ecclestone however may have his immunity revoked.
BUT if he was jailed, there could be quite some delay for future events. Mainly the new concord agreement, as FIA and F~0~M will have to look for an replacement for bernie (if they are going to).
Note:
All of the current and TV Rights, Circuit agreements plus more is likely signed with bernie ecclestone.
So assuming he did sign them and he were to be jailed. Depending on how the contracts are stated (such as if specific mention of arrested of one of the party, or fail to perform the obligated tasks), those contracts might be breeched/voided.
Mercedes AMG F1 might also be introuble, as it's parent company has stated they can (and very likely to) withdrawn from the sport as they do not wish to participate in a corrupted enviorment, plus with the fact that Mercedes and bernie's had heated debate over extra bonus of the new concord agreement.
If Mercedes choose to withdraw from F1 immediately. They are allowed to do so if they choose to give up their financial bonus at the end of the year, which to them could be a big loss regardless of their position on the new concord agreement.
Lets just hope they won't turn amazing season into a disastrous one
*I might be wrong on some points, but overall picture should be correct*