The FIA’s Ethics Committee has rejected complaints from presidential candidate David Ward who claimed Jean Todt had unfairly gathered support through various letters from motoring clubs.
The current president is believed to have met with voting members and asked them to sign letters supporting his second term in office, according to Ward who is standing against the Frenchman.
The Ethics Committe gathered last week in Paris to address Ward’s complaint, but disagreed that Todt had acted unfaithfully or against the FIA’s code of ethics.
“Based on the foregoing, the Committee finds that nothing in what the Committee saw or heard gives any hint that any ethical regulation of the FIA has been breached by Mr Todt or any of the parties implicated.
“The Committee also did not see any evidence of any kind supporting the allegation that people were coerced into signing the Letters of support for Mr Todt.
“On the contrary, the Committee has received numerous letters from individual who attended the relevant meetings, albeit unsolicited, clearly showing that the letters of support were voluntary.”
Ward described the verdict as “regrettable”, adding: “the Ethics Committee has, in my opinion, failed to address important issues about the fairness and transparency of the election process.”
