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Ben Sulayem gets even more power: FIA confirms deal
A much discussed FIA reestructuring is finally happening, which will give President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, and Senate President, Carmelo Sanz de Barros, more power within the organization.
The FIA's new assignment of responsibilites withtin its structure would see the ethics and the audit committee relinquish some of its autonomy to both the FIA President as well as its Senate President. For instance, the audit committee would not be able to launch a financial investigation without the President's request. The changes, as the governing body has stated, are taking place for various reasons, however, one of them is to stop leaks to media, with whom Ben Sulayem has been at odds since the start of his tenure.
“First, to preserve and enhance the independence of the ethics committee by reducing the involvement of the FIA administration in its operation," the statement began. "The ethics committee previously only reported to the president, it now reports to both the president and the president of the senate. The committee now has the powers to independently assess whether or not to launch an investigation," the communication continued.
“Second, as a result of continuous leaks to the media of confidential material, including ethics committee reports, it is now proposed that the distribution of any ethics committee report will be limited," while at the same time stating that this did not keep Ben Sulayem or Sanz de Barros from "involving" members of the FIA, as well as FIA staff in its decisions. The FIA President was investigated for several cases of interference during the 2023 F1 season. On all times he was ultimately acquitted.
"The aim of the changes is to clarify that the audit committee is an advisory body to the senate and that it shall operate within the limits of the FIA statutes. The proposed amendments simply clarify that the audit committee is a support body for the senate and that the internal regulations of the audit committee will, in future, be approved by the senate," the FIA statement concluded.
This article was written with the help of Jeroen Immink
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