How the FIA’s presidential elections work

In December this year incumbent Mohamed Ben Sulayem is seeking a second terms as FIA president. To win another four-year term, he’ll face a democratic election, and this is how it will work.

Every four years, the FIA holds presidential elections at its General Assembly, the supreme decision-making body of the FIA that generally convenes once a year. The General Assembly is composed of national sporting authorities and automotive clubs representing the 245 member organisations across 149 countries.

It handles agenda points brought forward by the FIA’s two World Councils (World Motor Sport Council and World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism), as well as items coming from the Senate. It also votes in all major FIA officials, including the president.

The next general assembly, and with it the next presidential election, will be held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on 12 December. 

Who can run for president?

Much like in a political election, the presidential candidate does not run alone. Presidential candidates run on a list comprising of several key positions across both the sport and mobility side.

The prospective candidate runs alongside a president of the senate and must also pick a deputy president and seven vice-presidents for sport, as well as a deputy president and seven vice-presidents for automobile, mobility and tourism.

That number of vice presidents ensures all regions are represented, with two representatives for Europe and one each of the MENA, Africa, North America, South America and Asia-Pacific regions.

The candidates for the presidential and deputy presidential roles must be under 70 years of age on the day of the election – down from 75 previously – and an FIA president may not serve more than three four-year terms for a maximum duration of 12 years. For a list to be eligible in the first place, it must have the support of a certain number of sporting and mobility members.

How does the voting work?

Each member country receives a maximum of 24 votes, 12 for sport and 12 for mobility. Some countries only have one batch of votes as they only have an eligible member organisation on either the sport or mobility side.

Voting in the General Assembly is carried out by secret ballot, with the votes counted in private by the FIA’s legal department under supervision from observers nominated by the assembly.

Members can either vote for their preferred candidate or abstain. The candidate with an absolute majority in a first voting round or a simple majority in the second round is elected as president.

Incumbent president Ben Sulayem defeated Graham Stoker at the last election in 2021, succeeding Jean Todt in the role. Ben Sulayem received 61.62% of the votes to Stoker’s 36.62%, with 1.76% of the members abstaining.

Ben Sulayem, a 14-time FIA Middle East Rally Champion, held a number of senior FIA roles before being elected. Officially, no candidate has opposed him yet as he seeks a second term, but Motorsport.com understands former rally champion Carlos Sainz Sr was approached and is considering running against Ben Sulayem to be the next FIA president.

Ben Sulayem came under intense scrutiny over the past few years over his running of the governing body, with concerns being raised by Motorsport UK president Dave Richards over the body’s governance.

Numerous senior FIA staff also left the organisation in recent years, including Ben Sulayem’s elected deputy president for sport, Robert Reid.