Bernie Ecclestone has spent decades navigating the world’s most complicated political and sporting minefields, but the former Formula 1 supremo has just found himself caught in an altogether different kind of trap – a Portuguese firearms bureaucracy snare.
The 95-year-old billionaire was reportedly detained after his private jet touched down at Tires Aerodrome in Cascais, just outside Lisbon, with Portuguese authorities allegedly discovering a shotgun during a routine inspection.
According to Portuguese outlet Correio da Manha, Ecclestone was detained by officers from the Airport Division of the PSP (Portuguese Public Security Police) after the firearm was found.
The apparent offense was not the possession of the gun itself, but the absence of the permit and accompanying documentation required to bring it into Portugal.
Ecclestone, however, insists the episode was considerably less dramatic than the word “arrested” might suggest.
Speaking to Daily Mail Sport, the former F1 chief acknowledged that he had brought the shotgun from Switzerland for clay-pigeon shooting but admitted he was not carrying the necessary paperwork. He also rejected the suggestion that he had been formally arrested.
“I had a gun that I was bringing over from Switzerland to Portugal for clay-pigeon shooting. It's as simple as that. I have guns at home there that are licensed,” he explained.
That simple explanation, though, apparently did little to prevent the situation from escalating.
From routine landing to firearms headache
Ecclestone said he initially passed through customs without any problems, only for a police officer to subsequently request a search of his luggage.
“We cleared customs on arriving here – I know the guys there – and they were fine with everything. No problems. Then a policeman afterwards asked to search the bag. It could have been [his six-year-old son] Ace's fishing tackle for all it looked like, but it wasn't,” he explained.
“They asked if I had a 'blue book', which is apparently the documentation you need, and I told them I never travel with documents like that, any documents at all, practically.
“They said they would arrest me, but after what seemed like hours, we sorted it out, but it has been wall-to-wall aggravation.”
For a man who once made an entire sport bend to his negotiating will, the prospect of being held up by a missing “blue book” must have made for a particularly frustrating change of pace.
Ecclestone said the matter could ultimately be resolved, with his wife, Fabiana Flosi, heading to Lisbon to surrender the firearm and deal with whatever administrative or financial requirements are necessary.
“But it seems it can be put right. Fabi [his wife, Fabiana Flosi] has gone to Lisbon to surrender the gun, or pay the tax or whatever you need to bring it in, or to hand it over in the end. I said I would go too, but I didn't as it happened, and I am sitting at home waiting for the situation to be put to bed,” he said.
A familiar brush with firearms controversy
The Portuguese episode is particularly intriguing because it is not Ecclestone’s first recent encounter with authorities over a gun.
In 2022, Brazilian officials detained him before a flight to Switzerland after an unloaded LW Seecamp .32-calibre pistol was discovered inside his luggage at Campinas airport near São Paulo.
Read also: Ecclestone reveals what he still misses about managing Formula 1Ecclestone subsequently posted bail and characterized that incident as little more than a misunderstanding, explaining that he had bought the weapon for protection at home and had simply forgotten that it was still inside his bag.
Four years later, history has now produced an oddly familiar sequel.
Once again, Ecclestone insists the drama has been overstated. Once again, a firearm has turned up in his luggage. And once again, the veteran power broker finds himself having to explain to the authorities why the gun was there in the first place.
For the former F1 supremo, whose extraordinary career in the sport was built on an ability to solve seemingly impossible problems behind closed doors, this latest headache may ultimately come down to something far less glamorous: getting the right piece of paper.
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