Shock letter attacks the FIA and Ben Sulayem with a warning of 'damaging credibility'

11:01, 12 Jun

byOlly Darcy

One of the FIA's founding member clubs has launched a brand-new and surprising attack on the president of the governing body, Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

The Austrian OAMTC (Osterreichischer Automobil-, Motorrad- und Touring Club) has warned that the FIA could be "damaging its credibility" if they are to support the proposed changes brought forward by the Emirati.

It comes as a FIA General Assembly meeting in Macau is set to have their say on the several proposals that Ben Sulayem had put forward.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem succeeded Jean Todt as the FIA president in December 2021.

In May, Ben Sulayem first put forward these revisions for the governing body, which included barring potential FIA presidential candidates if anything on their record questions their professional integrity.

Plans to also bring forward the deadline for presidential candidates to declare their running for the role, as well as an increase in the power of the president to appoint Senate members of the FIA, are proposals that the 63-year-old has announced.

Ben Sulayem faces a new attack

As a result of this, a lengthy letter from the OAMTC was sent to its FIA members sitting on the World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism (WCAMT), outlining their concerns on the direction of the FIA.

"Damage to the FIA's credibility as an organisation has already occurred through repeated governance mis-steps and failings," the letter stated.

"These are not anomalies: they are features of a system of governance that is malfunctioning, due to the absence of normal internal debate and discussion. The FIA's standing in comparison to other international organisations is threatened by the self-inflicted wound of governance failure."

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The letter continued on to state that its members should either vote against the changes proposed or ask for more time for them to be analysed, arguing that there are big dangers that could be associated with helping the current president in his election bid for December 2025.

"Where there is even a risk of these changes appearing to benefit the current FIA administration, and not the FIA itself, the changes should not be adopted," the letter continued.

"There is ample time for more careful reflection, and if these are desirable changes, they will still be desirable at a future General Assembly after the next election."