FIA president Mohamed Ben Sulayem has come under attack for his “distinct failure” to live up to key election promises, as a row over barring key members from a recent World Motor Sport Council meeting has now escalated in public.
David Richards, chairman of the UK’s national racing authority Motorsport UK, says the body is ready to take legal action against the FIA amid a growing controversy over what he calls a “gagging order”.
Following Richards and other FIA officials, including deputy president of sport Robert Reid, being barred from joining a recent WMSC meeting because they had not signed a new confidentiality agreement to keep internal discussions secret, the matter has now got more intense.
In a strongly-worded letter that was sent to members of Motorsport UK on Wednesday, Richards has opened up on what he calls the failure of FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem to deliver on promises he made as part of his election manifesto.
“For some time now I've had concerns about the erosion of accountability and good governance within the FIA,” wrote Richards about the reasons for his communication.
“As you may have seen in the press, an issue has recently emerged that has compelled me to take a stand and needs an explanation.”
Richards went on to explain how his concerns about the way things were being run had grown over time, as he outlined why his initial support for Ben Sulayem in his 2021 election campaign had by now fallen away.
Richards said that he had supported Ben Sulayem initially because Ben Sulayem had promised to be a “hands-off president who would be non-executive and delegate the day-to-day running of the FIA to a professional executive team”, with the “appointment of an empowered and capable CEO to run the FIA to professional standards” and “full transparency of actions and the highest standards of sporting governance”.
Richards added: “I'm afraid that over the last three years there has been a distinct failure to meet these promises.
“In fact, the situation has progressively worsened with media reports confirming that numerous senior members of the FIA and volunteer officials have either been fired or have resigned under an opaque cloud.
“Furthermore, the scope of the Audit and Ethics Committees has been severely limited and now lacks autonomy from the authority of the president, while our UK representative, who challenged certain matters, was summarily removed along with the chair of the Audit Committee.
“Various techniques have also been deployed with the effect of limiting the proper function of the World Motor Sport Council, primarily the use of e-voting which removes the opportunity for much needed discussion and debate on key subjects.
“This has become increasingly worrying and the final straw for me, three weeks ago, was being asked to sign a new confidentiality agreement that I regarded as a 'gagging order’.”
The confidentiality matter
Richards (pictured above with Ben Sulayem) said that the current FIA Code of Ethics already covered confidential matters and he felt the extra steps would prevent him communicating information that he felt relevant to his role.
He was further concerned that 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” and “there was an immediate fine of €50,000 for any breach and a threat of undisclosed damages”
He added: “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.
“I therefore asked that we debate the matter at the World Motor Sport Council, which was just days away, rather than having it forced upon us as a condition of attendance.
“My request, along with those of a few other members who shared our views, was denied and we were barred from attending the meeting.
“This was in total breach of the FIA statutes that require all elected members be given full access to meetings. I should point out that I kept the Board of Motorsport UK fully informed throughout to ensure that I had their complete support.
"Our Motorsport UK lawyers, along with our French Legal Counsel, have challenged the FIA on their actions by setting out a clear set of questions that the FIA leadership needs to answer.
"It is very disappointing to report that we have still not received an answer to these or the fundamental question I raised: where in the FIA Statutes does it provide for an elected member to be barred from a meeting?"
Richards believes that the way in which the FIA has handled the confidentiality matter, as well as barring him and Reid from meetings, can be challenged under the FIA Statutes.
He added: “We have informed the FIA that unless they address the issues we've raised, we will be engaging in further legal action.
“In a year when the president will either be re-elected or a new one appointed, it is more important than ever to remind the FIA of their responsibilities and continue to hold them to account on behalf of the sport and their members worldwide, and that's what I intend to do.”
The FIA is aware of Richards’ letter, but has simply referred back to a statement it made in the wake of the recent WMSC meeting controversy about the confidentiality agreement.
At the time, a spokesperson said: “As is routine in all organisations, the FIA implements procedures including non-disclosure agreements to ensure confidential relationships between all parties, to safeguard personal information, and to protect our regulatory interests.
"Unauthorised disclosure of confidential information undermines our ability to fully fulfil our mission and adversely impacts our capabilities to generate revenues to support our Member Clubs in our shared objective of growing motorsport participation, increasing accessibility, and cultivating innovation.
"The steps we have taken to preserve confidentiality have been overwhelmingly supported by a super majority of WMSC members."
