MotorsportUK chairman David Richards has once again hit out at the leadership of the FIA claiming that it has lost its moral compass.
In early March, Richards warned of potential legal action after he was barred from a meeting of the World Motor Sport Council. The former F1 team boss and 1981 WRC winner, was barred, along with several others, including FIA officials, not least deputy president of sport Robert Reid, after they refused to sign a new confidentiality agreement drawn up by Ben Sulayem to halt ongoing leaks.
In an open letter Richards warned of legal action as he claimed that "for some time now I've had concerns about the erosion of accountability and good governance within the FIA".
Referring to Mohammed ben Sulayem's 2021 election pledge that he would be a "hands-off president who would be non-executive and delegate the day-to-day running of the FIA to a professional executive team", along with "full transparency of actions and the highest standards of sporting governance", Richards said: "I'm afraid that over the last three years there has been a distinct failure to meet these promises.
"In fact, the situation has progressively worsened with media reports confirming that numerous senior members of the FIA and volunteer officials have either been fired or have resigned under an opaque cloud," added the former BAR and Benetton boss.
"Furthermore, the scope of the Audit and Ethics Committees has been severely limited and now lacks autonomy from the authority of the president, while our UK representative, who challenged certain matters, was summarily removed along with the chair of the Audit Committee," Richards continued.
"Various techniques have also been deployed with the effect of limiting the proper function of the World Motor Sport Council, primarily the use of e-voting which removes the opportunity for much needed discussion and debate on key subjects.
"The construction of this new confidentiality agreement does not comply with the Statutes of the FIA," Richards insisted, "and contradicts the promise of transparent governance we had voted for.
"I therefore asked that we debate the matter at the World Motor Sport Council, which was just days away, rather than having it forced upon us as a condition of attendance. My request, along with those of a few other members who shared our views, was denied and we were barred from attending the meeting.
"We have informed the FIA that unless they address the issues we've raised, we will be engaging in further legal action," he warned.
In reaction, The FIA's general manager, Alberto Villarreal insisted that confidentiality agreements are "a standard part of business".
"We struggle to understand your reluctance to be bound by the same terms and conditions as your fellow members, given you acknowledge the damage the numerous leaks from the world motorsport council (WMSC) have made to the FIA's mission," he said.
In his own response Richards shows no sign of backing down.
"I very much hope that despite Alberto's letter, dismissing these material issues, we might yet have a sensible discussion with the legal counsel of the FIA and resolve these points," he writes.
"They are not insurmountable, but as currently written they are wholly inappropriate. So much so that various other parties have expressed the same concerns which has resulted in adaptations to the agreements that they have signed. That opportunity has not yet been afforded to me."
It's understood that this refers to the sport's commercial rights holder (Liberty Media) having been given a less restrictive confidentiality agreement after it too had objected to the original. After all, F1 has already had more than its fair share of run ins with the FIA president.
While admitting that the FIA can be proud of "many things" it has achieved in recent time, he insists: "But we cannot allow a shift of the moral compass of our leadership to simply dismiss any request for transparency and open discourse."
Ben Sulayem is up for election this year and currently nobody has put themselves forward to challenge him, however it is widely believed that there are candidates preparing to stand.
In the meantime there is the little matter of the latest Concorde Agreement, which, while the teams have signed up to - F1 was only too glad to announce - still awaits the agreement of the FIA.
Then there is also the hot potato that are the ongoing discussions over the 2026 engine regulations for F1, which, even at this late stage have yet to be agreed, and which, could yet see the sport suffer the withdrawal of manufacturers similar to that in 2008. While it was thought the regulations were all but set in stone, Ben Sulayem threw things into disarray when he suggested a return to V10s, a move which has divided the sport and could leave some teams without an engine supply.
The situation will be discussed when the F1 Commission meets on Friday.
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