Former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone has denied that he was arrested at an airport in Brazil on Thursday evening for carrying an illegal weapon, and even goes as far as to claim he wanted some publicity as he’s not been in the press for some time.

According to Bernie Ecclestone, the information reported on Thursday by many media outlets that the British man had been arrested at an airport for carrying an illegal weapon is false, with the former Formula One commercial director insisting that the case had been widely over-publicised, as he was never arrested by the police:

“I haven’t had any publicity lately and I thought I had to do something to get some,

“I’ve never been arrested,” Bernie Ecclestone told Reuters news agency.

The British man said he only had to pay a deposit of $1,260 before he was allowed to leave but that it took time because he could not pay in local currency.

“They wanted it in local currency, which we didn’t have, so it was quite a hassle trying to get the money because I was leaving the country and I didn’t have local currency. It was all unnecessary drama for nothing.”

Bernie Ecclestone assumes there was a gun in his luggage, but the businessman insisted it was never loaded:

“It [the gun] was never used, there were never any bullets, so I never bothered to check it. I didn’t know I had to,” Ecclestone defended himself.

Ecclestone said he had spent much of the night at the airport filling out declarations and official documents before finally boarding his plane in the early hours of the morning for Europe.

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