Greece’s Acropolis Rally has been dropped for the 2014 World Rally Championships and will be replaced by a Polish race.

Volkswagen Motorsport team principal Jost Capito told Yahoo, “Firstly, Poland was a great event last time it ran and there is no reason why it should not be on the calendar.

“On the other hand, I don’t think it’s nice to have Greece out.

“The Acropolis is an iconic event. It was always a good, challenging rally that the drivers were all looking forward to all season.

“And when you see the situation in Greece, everybody takes everything from Greece; on a human level, I don’t know how the country will survive if these people keep having everything taken from them.

“They are very proud people and if you take everything – including their pride – away from them then I don’t know how they can catch up.”

A proposed calendar for the 2014 World Rally Championships put Greece’s Acropolis Rally in doubt in August.

Greek organisers have been working hard to gather support for the event, but lost out in the end.

The Acropolis rally has formed part of the WRC since its inception in 1973.

Source: Yahoo, Autosport