FIA president proposes changes to governing body

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem is proposing changes to the statutes of motorsport’s governing body that appear to further extend his control.

BBC Sport has seen a confidential document containing the proposed revisions, which are set to be voted on at a meeting of the FIA General Assembly next month.

These bring forward the deadline for candidates for December’s presidential election, give Ben Sulayem the possibility to bar any candidate from running against him and allow him more control over the membership of the FIA Senate.

No critic was prepared to comment on the record about the changes, as many are bound by non-disclosure agreements.

But one said: “Most proposals aim at some sort of consolidation of power, more centralised control and trying to eliminate independent checks and balances.”

Another said the document containing the proposals was “very cleverly written”.

“It’s taking a very moral high ground,” they said. “Or it’s appearing to. Whereas the reality of it is probably less so.”

Ben Sulayem was criticised last December for statute changes that were labelled a “worrisome concentration of power” by one of its member clubs.

The most controversial proposal is one that dictates there “must not be anything in the record of the candidates standing for the election as members of the presidential list that calls into question their professional integrity”.

According to the document of proposed statutes, the reason for adding this is that such an eligibility criterion is currently absent from the FIA statutes and internal regulations.

It says that this should be in the requirements for a presidential campaign “for the sake of consistency” because it already applies to candidates standing for a number of other FIA bodies, such as the F1 cost-cap committee, and audit and ethics committees.

However, the list of presidential candidates and their teams, which are strictly defined, is monitored by the FIA’s nominations committee.

If it finds any ethical issues with a list, it would refer the matter to the FIA’s ethics committee.

Both bodies are controlled by the FIA president and his allies, following changes to the statutes made by Ben Sulayem last year.

In combination with the FIA’s code of ethics, this could appear targeted at Carlos Sainz, the rally legend who has already declared his interest in running for president in December.

The code of ethics dictates that parties of the FIA “shall avoid any conflicts of interest and must disclose any situation that could lead to such a conflict”.

Ben Sulayem has also proposed changes to the nomination of members of the senate, the body that controls the FIA in combination with the president.

The senate consists of 16 members, 12 of which are defined in the statutes as representatives of the president, his team and members of the two world councils, for sport and mobility and tourism.

The final four are currently “proposed” by the president and “confirmed by” the other 12 members of the senate.

Ben Sulayem is proposing that the president should “appoint” these final members, with no oversight from the other senate members.

The reason given for proposing this change is to allow “more flexibility in having the expertise required for the many and varied topics it has to deal with and which may require an urgent decision”.

However, the FIA statutes already contain article 18.4, which appears to cover this. It allows the senate to “invite other members to join in the study of specific questions”.

One source close to the situation said this was “so clearly poorer governance that the boldness is surprising”.

Another change proposes that the four-year term of office of the members of the audit, ethics and nominations committees be brought into line with that of the president.

Currently, the document states, these terms “do not necessarily start at the same time as that of the members of the presidential list”.

The reason given for this change is “to ensure consistency between terms of office and group these elections together”.

However, critics says that while this “seems efficient”, it also gives “fewer options for dissent outside of a presidential cycle”.

Ben Sulayem is also proposing to make a change to the composition of the world motorsport council, the organisation’s legislative body.

Current rules says that 21 of the 28 members must be of different nationalities.

Ben Sulayem is proposing, in the interests of “flexibility”, that there be “no more than two members of the same nationality among the seven vice-presidents and the 14 elected WMSC members”.

The document states this could deprive the FIA of “candidates from other backgrounds whose experience and qualities could also be beneficial to the WMSC in fulfilling its missions”.

The proposals also bring forward the deadline for candidates to declare their teams for the presidential election, from 21 days prior to the election to 49 days.

The reason given is that the current time limit “leaves the nominations committee with very little time to check the eligibility of the 11 candidates (for a presidential team) proposed in a given list”.

Critics say it could give the president longer to have the nominations committee look at reasons to bar candidates and members of their team.

Candidates are required by FIA rules to submit their chosen president of the senate, deputy presidents for sport and mobility and seven vice-presidents for sport from all the FIA’s regions.