Security guard beats up photographer at Hungaroring
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A grave confrontation happened between Getty Images photographer Mark Thompson and a Hungarian security guard at the Hungaroring on Friday afternoon. Thompson himself shared two photos of the incident on his Twitter page, in one of which he wrote that he had been slapped by the guard, which caused his mouth to split open.
Not too friendly of a security guard
“The friendly face of F1 trackside security Hungary style! #thugs”
The friendly face of F1 trackside security Hungary style! #thugs pic.twitter.com/l8JJI0WTIT
— Mark Thompson (@snapper_thommo) July 29, 2022
This is the caption Getty photographer Marc Thompson tweeted about what happened to him at the Hungaroring in Mogyoród, Hungary, on Friday afternoon. Thompson tells the story in two pictures. The first one shows the photographer and the security guard arguing, and the second one shows Thompson’s mouth being cut open and bleeding after being slapped.
The friendly face of Hungarian trackside security pt2 the slap across the face ( note cut to lip) pic.twitter.com/iLIsBhltZd
— Mark Thompson (@snapper_thommo) July 29, 2022
The post of the Getty photographer was found by vezess.hu. The car magazine wrote that the security guard is not an employee of the Hungaroring, but of a security company and it is not known why he hit the photographer. His shirt shows the logo of Valton Security.
Argument turning into assault
According to information from hvg.hu, the two men started arguing because the photographer wanted to enter a part of the pitch where he had the right to go according to his accreditation, but the sports referees working at the venue considered it unsafe. They told the security guard not to let him in.
The argument escalated into an assault, and hvg.hu understands that the photographer was the first one to lose his temper. The Hungarian news portal contacted Thompson in writing to find out how he remembers the incident, but so far they have not received a reply.
According to their information, on Friday evening and Saturday morning, the heads of the Hungarian and international safety services, the head of communications of the International Automobile Federation and the top executives of the sports industry discussed the incident, listened to the people involved and agreed on the standards of behaviour in F1.
The case has been reported
Meanwhile, the case of the photographer Thompson has been reported. Balázs Szabó, a sports journalist and member of the International Association of Sports Journalists (AIPS), filed the complaint for suspected assault at a public event. In the complaint, which was also sent to 444.hu, he wrote: