{"id":760948,"date":"2026-06-26T06:05:21","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T06:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/760948\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T06:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T06:05:21","slug":"f1-news-fia-clears-path-for-indefinite-mohammed-ben-sulayem-presidency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/760948\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: FIA clears path for indefinite Mohammed Ben Sulayem presidency"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"FIA
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFIA president Mohammed Bin Sulayem during the 2025 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Image: Moy \/ XPB Images<\/p>\n

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<\/a><\/p>\n

The change was approved by member clubs at the FIA\u2019s extraordinary general assembly in Macau, removing the previous cap of three four-year terms for the presidency and other senior roles.<\/p>\n

Ben Sulayem was first elected at the end of 2021 and won a second term last December after running unopposed.<\/p>\n

Under the previous statutes, he would have been limited to a maximum of 12 years in office.<\/p>\n

That restriction has now been removed, meaning Ben Sulayem can continue to seek re-election unless he is defeated or chooses not to stand.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe FIA Statutes have been updated to establish a consistent approach to term limits across all FIA bodies, in line with the World Councils and the Senate,\u201d an FIA spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed amendments were approved by a supermajority at the Extraordinary General Assemblies.<\/p>\n

\u201cFIA bodies retain full authority to democratically elect officeholders they deem appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

BBC Sport reported the vote passed with 90.71 per cent support, though the FIA has not publicly confirmed the figure.<\/p>\n

The previous term limit was introduced by former FIA president Jean Todt, who served three terms from 2009 to 2021 before Ben Sulayem took over.<\/p>\n

Ben Sulayem said the changes reflected the FIA\u2019s continued progress.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe decisions approved by our members here today reflect the continued progress we are making together as a Federation,\u201d said Ben Sulayem.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough stronger governance, financial discipline and a clear long-term vision, we are building an FIA that is better equipped to support our members, strengthen our championships, and deliver for motorsport and mobility worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The move comes after a controversial FIA election last year<\/a>, when Ben Sulayem returned after would-be challengers failed to meet the nomination requirements.<\/p>\n

Candidates were required to submit a list of vice-presidential nominees from each of the FIA\u2019s six global regions, drawn from eligible World Motor Sport Council members.<\/p>\n

That created a barrier for rivals after the only South American representative, Fabiana Ecclestone, had already backed Ben Sulayem.<\/p>\n

American motorsport executive Tim Mayer, who was among those unable to stand, criticised the process at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rules of this election mean that there will be no election,\u201d Mayer said in October, adding: \u201cWhen elections are decided before ballots are cast, that\u2019s not democracy. That\u2019s theatre.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further changes to the FIA\u2019s election rules have also been approved, including a requirement for presidential candidates to demonstrate sufficient experience within an FIA member organisation or FIA body.<\/p>\n

The FIA\u2019s statutes still state a presidential candidate must be under 70 on the day of an election or re-election, though reports have suggested Ben Sulayem could seek to remove that limit as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FIA president Mohammed Bin Sulayem during the 2025 Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Image: Moy \/ XPB…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760949,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,837,813,816,10952,85],"class_list":["post-760948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-fia","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-mohammed-ben-sulayem","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760948\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760949"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}