The presidency of FIA’s Mohamed Ben Sulayem is under fire, following a litany of unfulfilled election promises and escalating tensions within the World Motor Sport Council. The drama has now spilled into the public arena, with Motorsport UK, the national racing authority of the UK, threatening legal action against the FIA. This comes in light of what Motorsport UK chairman, David Richards, labels as a “gagging order.”
The conflict was ignited when Richards, among other FIA officials including Robert Reid, the deputy president of sport, were denied access to a recent WMSC meeting. The officials hadn’t signed a new confidentiality agreement aimed at keeping internal discussions under wraps, a move that has added fuel to the already flaming dispute.
In a candid letter distributed to Motorsport UK members, Richards didn’t mince words regarding his disappointment in FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem. He cited the FIA’s diminishing accountability and governance standards as his reasons for concern.
Richards also shared how his initial support for Ben Sulayem during the 2021 election campaign has dwindled, due to the president’s failure to uphold his election pledges. Ben Sulayem had promised to adopt a “hands-off”, non-executive role, leaving the day-to-day running of the FIA to a proficient executive team.
He also pledged to appoint a competent CEO to manage the FIA to professional standards, promising transparency and peak standards of sporting governance. However, Richards lamented that these promises have been grossly unfulfilled over the past three years.
Instead, the situation has deteriorated with multiple senior FIA members and volunteer officials either being dismissed or resigning under dubious circumstances. The FIA’s Audit and Ethics Committees’ authority has also been curtailed, lacking independence from the president’s authority.
Richards expressed his disquiet over his UK representative’s abrupt removal, along with the Audit Committee’s chairperson, after challenging certain issues. He also decried tactics that hamper the World Motor Sport Council’s effective function, particularly e-voting that inhibits discussion and debate on crucial subjects.
The last straw, according to Richards, was a new confidentiality agreement, which he viewed as a ‘gagging order’. He argued that the existing FIA Code of Ethics already covered confidential matters. The new agreement, he felt, would hinder his ability to communicate necessary information related to his role.
His anxiety mounted when the FIA reserved the right to determine any breach of the new confidentiality agreement, with a hefty fine of €50,000 for any infringement, plus potential undisclosed damages. Richards insisted that such an agreement contradicts the FIA’s statutes and the transparency they had voted for.
Despite his request to debate the issue at a World Motor Sport Council meeting, Richards was denied and barred from the meeting, a move he believes is a flagrant breach of the FIA statutes. He has since kept the Motorsport UK board in the loop and sought their full support.
The FIA has been legally challenged by Motorsport UK’s lawyers and their French Legal Counsel, who have raised a set of questions demanding answers from the FIA leadership. So far, the FIA has failed to respond to these queries or the critical question raised by Richards about the legality of barring an elected member from a meeting.
Richards has notified the FIA that unless they address these issues, further legal action will ensue. As the year progresses towards either re-election or appointment of a new president, Richards vows to keep the FIA accountable for their actions on behalf of the sport and their global members.
