Ben Sulayem accused of blocking challengers in FIA election

Mohammed Ben Sulayem is facing claims that he has made it virtually impossible for anyone to oppose him in December’s FIA presidential vote.

According to Spain’s Soy Motor, three hopefuls - American Tim Mayer and Europeans Laura Villars and Virginie Philipott - have declared their plans to contest the presidency. Yet the publication writes that “it’s not that the candidates have a hard time winning the elections, but it seems they can’t even run.”

The report points to revised election procedures introduced during Ben Sulayem’s term, obliging any rival to submit a 10-member leadership slate by October 24.

That lineup must include seven vice-presidents for sport chosen from a restricted list of just 28 approved individuals. The system also enforces regional quotas, and several of those regions reportedly contain only figures aligned with Ben Sulayem.

“For example,” Soy Motor notes, “there is only one from South America, Fabiana Ecclestone, who supports Ben Sulayem, which means no opponent can field a candidate from that region.”

The situation is similar in Africa, where both eligible officials are said to back the sitting president. Soy Motor concludes: “Game over. Changing the presidency would practically require a revolution in the central committee.”