The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) today elected a new President at its Annual General Assembly in Paris, France, with Mohammed Ben Sulayem winning a four-year term, alongside Deputy President for Sport Robert Reid, Deputy President for Automobile Mobility and Tourism Tim Shearman and Senate President Carmelo Sanz de Barros.
President Ben Sulayem takes over from outgoing FIA President Jean Todt whose third term came to an end today.
In light of the ongoing health crisis, this year’s AGA was held as a hybrid physical/online meeting, for the second year in a row with physical and remote voting used in determining the outcome of the Presidential election.
Addressing the Assembly, outgoing FIA President Jean Todt said: “Thank you to Deputy President for Sport Graham Stoker, Deputy President for Mobility Thierry Willemarck, President of the Senate Brian Gibbons, the members of the World Councils, the Senate, all of our commissions, Secretary General for Automobile Mobility and Tourism ad interim Onika Miller, Secretary General for Sport Peter Bayer, each department and all our volunteers, without whom nothing would be possible. I have great respect for what they do.
“Thank you to our promoters, all the mobility and sport stakeholders and to you, the Members of the FIA. You are the strength of the FIA and the pride of the FIA. Over the years I had the privilege to get to know you all individually and to visit you in your countries and we have created friendship and that will stay. That is the biggest emotion I have leaving the FIA. I have a strong wish and recommendation for whoever is elected – protect them, they are worth it. I wish you good luck. I was happy to be your President.”
Newly elected FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said: “Thank you very much for the trust and support you have given me. The FIA has given me a lot. It made my life and took me to where I am now and it’s time to give something back. I would like to thank my team and my family that has been with me all the time. I would like to also thank Graham Stoker for the challenge we had, and for some sleepless nights, and in the end we will both work for the FIA and we will lean on the experience of the past team. Thank you for the trust you have given me and I can assure you that what is in our manifesto will last.”
Presidential List
Today’s election results in the appointment of the following Presidential List:
LEADER OF THE LIST: Mohammed BEN SULAYEM
| Title | Name | Nationality | Proposed by |
| President of the FIA | Mohammed Ben SULAYEM | United Arab Emirates | NA |
| President of the Senate | Carmelo SANZ DE BARROS | Spain | Real Automovil Club de España |
| Deputy President for Sport | Robert REID | United Kingdom | Motorsport UK |
| Deputy President for Automobile Mobility and Tourism | Tim SHEARMAN | Canada | Canadian Automobile Association |
| Vice-President for Sport (Middle East) | Abdulla AL KHALIFA | Bahrain | Bahrain Motor Federation |
| Vice-President for Sport (Africa) | Rodrigo FERREIRA ROCHA | Mozambique | Automovel & Touring Clube de Moçambique |
| Vice-President for Sport (North America) | Daniel COEN | Costa Rica | Automovil Club de Costa Rica |
| Vice-President for Sport (South America) | Fabiana ECCLESTONE | Brazil | Confederacao Brasileira de Automobilismo |
| Vice-President for Sport (Asia-Pacific) | Lung-Nien LEE | Singapore | Motor Sports Singapore |
| Vice-President for Sport (Europe) | Anna NORDKVIST | Sweden | Svenska Bilsportforbundet |
| Vice-President for Sport (Europe) | Manuel AVINO | Spain | Real Federación Española de Automovilismo |
Decisions of the General Assembly
During today’s Annual General Assembly meeting, the following decisions were taken:
World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism
Eighteen members were elected from the candidate proposals received from FIA Automobile Mobility and Tourism Regions and validated by the Nominations Committee:
Region I
| Name | Nationality | Proposed by |
| Didier BOLLECKER | France | Automobile Club Association |
| Marga DE JAGER | Netherlands | Koninklijke Nederlandse Toeristenbond |
| Jorge Fernando DELGADO | Spain | Real Automovil Club de España |
| Peter GOETSCHI | Switzerland | Touring Club Suisse |
| August MARKL | Germany | Allgemeiner Deutscher Automobil Club |
| Györgyi MILOVUKOVICS | Hungary | Magyar Autoklub |
| Giuseppe REDAELLI | Italy | Automobile Club d’Italia |
| Gottfried WANITSCHEK | Austria | Österreichischer Automobil – Motorrad und Touring Club |
Region II
| Govinda BHATTARAI | Nepal | Nepal Automobiles’ Association |
| Michael BRADLEY | Australia | Australian Automobile Association |
| Nitin DOSSA | India | Federation of Indian Automobile Associations |
| Rifat SUNGKAR | Indonesia | Ikatan Motor Indonesia |
| Bernard TAY | Singapore | Automobile Association of Singapore |
Region III
| Alvaro OLIVER VENERE | Uruguay | Automovil Club Dominicano |
| Selwyn PERSAD | Trinidad & Tobago | Trinidad and Tobago Automobile Association |
Region IV
| Pedro Guillermo COFINO ORTEGA | Guatemala | Automovil Club de Guatemala |
| Gorki Salomon OBANDO ULTRERAS | Ecuador | Automovil Club del Ecuador |
| Alejandro QUINTANA | Chile | Automovil Club de Chile |
World Motor Sport Council
Fourteen members were elected from among the applications received from Candidate proposals from the FIA full Members and validated by the Nominations Committee.
| Candidates | Proposed by | Nationality |
| HRH Prince Khalid Bin Sultan AL FAISAL AL SAUD | Saudi Arabia | Saudi Automobile and Motorcycle Federation |
| Eric BARRABINO | Monaco | Automobile Club de Monaco |
| Wayne CHRISTIE | New Zealand | Motorsport New Zealand |
| Garry CONNELLY | Australia | Motorsport Australia |
| Viktor KIRYANOV | Russia | Russian Automobile Federation |
| Tom KRISTENSEN | Denmark | Dansk Automobil Sports Union |
| Andrew MALLALIEU | Barbados | Barbados Motoring Federation |
| Amina MOHAMED | Kenya | Kenya Motor Sport Federation |
| Rado RASPET | Slovenia | Auto Sport Federation of Slovenia |
| David RICHARDS | United Kingdom | Motorsport UK |
| George SILBERMANN | USA | Automobile Competition Committee for the United States FIA Inc. |
| Jan STOVICEK | Czech Republic | The Autoclub of the Czech Republic |
| Serkan YAZICI | Turkey | Turkish Automobile Sports Federation |
| Tao ZHANG | China | Federation of Automobile and Motorcycle Sports of People of China |
Elections to Committees and Disciplinary Bodies
Audit Committee
Two new members of the Audit Committee were elected at the General Assembly:
| Candidates | Nationality |
| Bertrand BADRE (President) | France |
| Tom PURVES | United Kingdom |
International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal
The position of 19 judges were renewed, with the following being elected:
| Candidates | Nationality | Proposed by |
| Laurent ANSELMI | Monaco | Automobile Club de Monaco |
| Rui BOTICA SANTOS | Portugal | Automóvel Club de Portugal |
| Michele CORRADINO | Italy | Automobile Club d’Italia |
| William Garrett CROTTY | USA | Automobile Competition Committee for the United States FIA Inc. |
| Michael GRECH | Malta | Touring Club Malta / Malta Motorsports Federation |
| Jaakko HIETALA | Finland | AKK – Motorsport |
| Thierry JULLIARD | Switzerland | Auto Sport Suisse |
| Mark KLETTER | Austria | F1 Teams |
| Jean-Christophe LEROY | France | Fédération Française du Sport Automobile |
| Jean LUISI | France | Fédération Française du Sport Automobile |
| Martin MAISNER | Czech Republic | The Autoclub of the Czech Republic |
| Javier MARTIN-MERINO | Spain | Real Federación Española de Automovilismo |
| Philip MOSER | United Kingdom | F1 Teams |
| Kyle NOVAK | USA | Automobile Competition Committee for the United States FIA Inc. |
| Robert PERGL | Czech Republic | Ustredni Automotoklub CR |
| Patrick RAEDERSDORF | Switzerland | Auto Sport Suisse |
| Dieter ROSSKOPF | Germany | Deutscher Motor Sport Bund |
| Walter SOFRONOFF | Australia | Motorsport Australia |
| Felippe ZERAIK | Brazil | Confederacao Brasileira de Automobilismo |
Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee
One position was filled on the proposal of the World Motor Sport Council:
| Candidates | Nationality | Expertise |
| Jose Antonio VELOSO | Uruguay | Medical |
Amendments to the FIA International Sporting Code
The Assembly agreed to a number of amendments to the International Sporting Code, including the following:
- Possibility of the substitute stewards and stewards to work remotely: Due to the current global situation, the Assembly extended the possibility for stewards to operate remotely under certain conditions.
- Definition of Drifting: A specific definition of Drifting is introduced within the Code: “a Competition in which Drivers compete by aiming to accurately follow a pre-determined Course. Scoring will be done by Judges, based on a combination of line, angle, style and speed. Drifting can take place on either permanent or temporary Closed Courses, with two forms of Competition permitted: 1) Solo Drifting, often used for qualifying, will seed rivers compete one at a time to set as high a points score as possible, and / or 2) Tandem/battle Drifting, will feature two Drivers at the same time over a minimum of two runs. Each Driver will take the opportunity to be the leading vehicle for one run and the chasing vehicle for the other. The leading Driver’s objective will be to replicate what would be a perfect qualifying run, while the chasing Driver’s objective will be to mirror the run of the leader while maintaining as close proximity as possible. The Judges will determine the winner of each tandem/battle by comparing their performances across both runs (and any further runs as may be ordered)”.
Delegation of Sporting Powers
A request for the delegation of the Sporting Power from the Chinese Taipei Motor Sports Ltd (CTMS) to the Chinese Taipei Motor Sports Association (CTMSA) was approved by the Assembly, thus allowing for the selection and training of a national team for the FIA Motor Sport Games for 2022 exclusively.
FIA Members
Definitive affiliation of provisionally affiliated Clubs
| Organisation | Country | Competence |
| Federação Angolana de Desportos Motorizados | Angola | Sport |
| Hellenic Motorsport Federation | Greece | Sport |
| Automobile Federation of Moldova | Moldova | Sport |
| National Automobile Club of Uzbekistan | Uzbekistan | Sport |
| Vietnamese Motorsports Association LLC | Vietnam | Sport |
| Groupe de Développement Sportif | Canada | Sport |
Change of Status
| Organisation | Country | Competence |
| Namibia Motor Sport Federation | Namibia | Change from associate to full Member |
| Rwanda Automobile Club | Rwanda | Change from associate to full Member as ASN |
| Auto Sport d’Haïti | Haïti | Change from associate to full Member |
Resignation
| Organisation | Country | Competence |
| The Camping and Caravanning Club | United Kingdom | Automobile mobility and tourism |
Honorary Member
It is with pleasure that the General Assembly awards Honorary status to the following Members:
| Title | Name |
| Président d’Honneur | Jean TODT |
| Vice-Président d’Honneur | Angelo STICCHI-DAMIANI |
| Vice-Président d’Honneur | Jose ABED |
| Vice-Président d’Honneur | Heping WAN |
| Membre d’Honneur | Michel FERRY |
| Président d’Honneur de Commission | Gérard SAILLANT |
| Président d’Honneur de Commission | Rod PARKIN |
| Président d’Honneur de Commission | Giuseppe MUSCIONI |
Date and location of next meeting
The 2022 FIA Annual General Assembly and Prize Giving Ceremony will take place on 9 December 2022. The Assembly granted a mandate to the newly composed World Councils to determine the location and venue of the Assembly.