Why FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem looks set to win re-election unopposed

The hopes of any candidates dislodging incumbent FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in December look all but gone, as it appears none of his rivals will be able to submit an eligible team.

Ben Sulayem is seeking a second four-year term as FIA president during the governing body's General Assemblies held on 12 December in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Alongside the 63-year-old Emirati, three other potential candidates have publicly come forward, including former F1 steward Tim Mayer, Swiss racer Laura Villars and Belgian TV presenter Virginie Philippot.

All candidates have from 3 and 24 October to submit their bids, which includes naming a presidential list - a team of nominees that will run alongside them to fill the roles of president of the senate, deputy president for automobile mobility and tourism as well as the post of deputy president for sport.

The list also includes seven vice presidents for sport; two from Europe and one each for the remaining regions - MENA, Africa, North America, South Africa and Asia-Pacific.

Any candidates for the above positions may only appear on one presidential candidate's list and they must all be eligible candidates for the World Motor Sport Council. That list of eligible WMSC member candidates has now been made public, and crucially it only contains one potential representative from South America - Fabiana Ecclestone.

Ecclestone, the Brazilian wife of former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, is Ben Sulayem's current VP for the region and is on his re-election team as well, so therefore no other presidential candidate will be able to put together a presidential list that satisfies all criteria.

F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and Fabiana Ecclestone

Candidates for the WMSC can be put forward by the relevant ASN of their country. On 13 June the FIA sent a letter to all FIA members, informing them of a 19 September deadline to submit such candidatures for the council. With that deadline now lapsed, there is no other mechanism for members to apply to the council, and thus no other way for a South American representative to be picked by a presidential ticket.

Per the FIA's published guidelines, candidates for the WMSC must be under 75 years of age on the day of the election, and there must not be anything in the record of each of the candidates for the WMSC that calls into question their professional integrity.

What that means is that either Mayer and the other presidential hopefuls failed to recruit a South American official to fill the post of vice president in time, or that such a candidature was put forward but rejected by the authorised FIA Nominations Committee.

Ben Sulayem's South American kingmakers

Due to confidentiality agreements, the FIA cannot disclose such details, but events from earlier this year provide clues as to why the writing appeared on the wall all along for Mayer, whose team has been contacted for comment.

In May, rally legend Carlos Sainz Sr announced an interest in running for the presidency. Sainz ultimately didn't follow through on those intentions, but the Spaniard's high-profile bid did attract a lot of media attention.

Several weeks later a collective of 36 Spanish-speaking FIA members as well as automobile clubs from the Americas sent a joint letter to Ben Sulayem expressing support for his re-election campaign. Fabiana Ecclestone also signed the letter.

But more importantly, the letter was signed by every single president of the 11 South American federations, showcasing that any rival to Ben Sulayem would face an uphill battle to convince one of them to switch allegiance - which was necessary in order to put forward a WMSC candidate willing to join a different presidential ticket.

Tim Mayer

As it happens, Mayer recently toured the continent as he travels around the world to garner support for his campaign. "I recently spent a few, extremely busy days in South America visiting our member clubs in Chile, Bolivia and Argentina," he wrote on the campaign website. "The welcome was warm in each country and the topography is individually spectacular, but my visit further reinforced FIA Forward’s opinion that the FIA needs to provide unique solutions to each region’s unique challenges, whether those are in sport or mobility."

But with Ben Sulayem also enjoying strong support in Asia and Africa, Mayer had already foreshadowed when he announced his candidacy that beating the president at his own game of keeping member clubs on his side would be tricky. At the election, each of the FIA's 149 member countries has an equal vote, split between the sport and mobility sides.

"We are in a situation where it's very important for the member clubs that they see the value, that they see that they can get value,” Mayer said in July. "To be honest, Mohammed has been quite good at explaining to them what he's doing for them. But he needs to do it top to bottom, not just here and there for member clubs. It needs to be universal within the organisation.”

What are Tim Mayer’s chances of winning the FIA presidency?

Ben Sulayem's first term proves divisive

In the aforementioned letter of support, Ben Sulayem was credited by his supporters for providing strong leadership and improving the FIA's financial outlook following the COVID-19 pandemic. But the former rally driver has also faced criticism over his governance style.

In March this year Motorsport UK chief Dave Richards accused Ben Sulayem of consolidating power, writing in an open letter that "the governance and constitutional organisation of the FIA is becoming ever more opaque and concentrating power in the hands of the president alone".

The letter followed a string of high-profile resignations and sackings within the FIA, including Mayer as well as CEO Natalie Robyn, technical director Tim Goss, sporting director Steve Nielsen, compliance officer Paolo Basarri, and Deborah Mayer, the president of the FIA's Women in Motorsport Commission.

David Richards and Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA

The biggest upheaval followed in April when Ben Sulayem's running mate - deputy president for sport Robert Reid - resigned over what he felt was a "breakdown of governance standards" and "critical decisions being made without due process". Reid was replaced as deputy president by Malcolm Wilson, the founder of rallying powerhouse M-Sport.

There was also pushback in June against changes to the FIA's statutes and ethics code that Ben Sulayem initiated, which have increased the president's influence on the FIA Senate membership and made the vetting process for WMSC candidates more rigorous.

At the time the FIA stated those changes, which were voted through by a super majority at its General Assembly in Macau, were "designed to further strengthen processes around governance and confidentiality" and will "grant the Nominations Committee more time to examine the eligibility criteria of candidates, and help to ensure consistency and rigour in the electoral process."

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