The United Kingdom’s motorsport body, Motorsport UK, has threatened the FIA with legal action over a lack of transparency after its Chairman, David Richards, was barred from attending a World Motor Sport Council meeting, as well as a “failure to meet its promises”.
Richards, as an appointed member, is permitted “full access to [WMSC] meetings”, but was barred from the latest meeting along with a number of other members who refused to sign a new ‘confidentiality agreement’ which they felt had been “forced upon them”, and one which went too far with objections to the following statements;
- – Everything was now considered confidential, without any qualification, preventing me from necessarily sharing what I considered to be relevant information
- – The FIA, at its own discretion, could decide if anyone breached the terms of the new confidentiality agreement with no process or frame of reference.
- – There was an immediate fine of 50,000 euros for any breach and a threat of undisclosed damages.
“The construction of this new confidentiality agreement does not comply with the Statutes of the FIA and contradicts the promise of transparent governance we had voted for,” Richards wrote in a letter to members of Motorsport UK.
That has led Richards and Motorsport UK to question the FIA’s actions, but such requests have gone unanswered. That has prompted Richards to threaten the FIA with legal action should such issues not be addressed.
Richards unhappy with FIA President
The statement also went on to criticise FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who has been embroiled in a number of controversies since being appointed to the role in 2021.
Among those controversies include alleged meddling in race results with two whistleblowers claiming he tried to intervene in the results of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Sexist comments towards women and more recently a clampdown on swearing, which has promoted Formula 1 and WRC drivers to criticise new rules on language.
The Motorsport UK statement says Ben Sulayem has failed to uphold the promises he made when elected to the role of FIA president, in which he promised take a “hands-off” approach to governing motorsport, instead “delegating the day-to-day running of the FIA to a professional executive team.”
The situation is “worsening” at the FIA according to Richards, who highlighted a number of resignations under Ben Sulayem.
He added: “The scope of the audit and ethics committees has been severely limited and now lacks autonomy from the authority of the president, while the UK representative, who challenged certain matters, was summarily removed along with the chair of the audit committee”.
Ben Sulayem is running for re-election at the end of his first term in December this year. Currently there are no public candidates standing against him.
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