Formula 1: Motorsport UK chair David Richards threatens FIA with legal action over governance

Motorsport UK Chairman David Richards has threatened the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) with legal action if it fails to address his governance concerns. Richards' strong stance stems from the fact that he and several other FIA members were barred from attending last week's World Motor Sport Council meeting for refusing to sign non-disclosure agreements.

In a letter to Motorsport UK members, Richards pointed out that the FIA's behavior under the leadership of President Mohammed Ben Sulayem violates its own statutes and that its actions fail to meet the "golden standard of transparency, accountability and integrity in sports governance." He emphasized that the FIA's actions are contrary to its charter and lack transparency and accountability.

Richards, who is also Chairman of motorsport engineering company Prodrive and a former F1 team boss, stated that he intends to "remind the FIA of its duties and hold it accountable on behalf of motorsport and its members worldwide." He believes that a series of controversial events have occurred within the FIA since Ben Sulayem was elected in December 2021, which have severely damaged the FIA's reputation.

Richards' letter referred to a series of controversial events since Ben Sulayem took office, including his views on women, his management of F1, charter amendments that reduce accountability, the dismissal of several senior officials, and rule changes regarding the public behavior of F1 drivers. Richards believes that Ben Sulayem has failed to deliver on his campaign promises, including serving as a non-interventionist president, entrusting the FIA's operations to a professional team, appointing and empowering a capable CEO, and achieving full transparency in actions.

Richards stated that the FIA's situation is "going from bad to worse," with several senior officials being dismissed or "resigning in unclear circumstances." He also noted: "The powers of the Audit and Ethics Committees have been severely curtailed and now lack autonomy from the President’s authority, whilst the UK representative who challenged certain matters, along with the Chairman of the Audit Committee, were immediately removed." He believes that the "final straw" that prompted him to write the letter was "being asked to sign a new confidentiality agreement that I considered to be a ‘gagging order’."

Richards explained that he had signed a confidentiality agreement when he was appointed to the World Motor Sport Council in 2021 and that he "remains committed to honouring my confidentiality obligations under the existing agreement and Article 4, which remain in force." He added: "However, the new confidentiality agreement went far beyond this, and I was informed, on a week’s notice, that if I did not sign it, I would be barred from attending the next World Motor Sport Council meeting."

Richards emphasized that the key provisions he objects to include: everything is now deemed confidential without limitation, preventing him from sharing information he deems relevant and necessary; the FIA can unilaterally decide whether someone has violated the terms of the new confidentiality agreement without any process or frame of reference; any violation will immediately be subject to a fine of 50,000 euros, with the threat of undisclosed damages.

Richards further stated: "Our Motorsport UK lawyers, along with our French legal counsel, have challenged the FIA's actions, raising a number of clear questions that require answers from the FIA leadership. It is extremely disappointing that we have still not received a response to these questions or the fundamental question I raised: which part of the FIA statutes allows an elected member to be barred from attending a meeting?" He added: "We have informed the FIA that unless they address the issues we have raised, we will take further legal action."

Richards acknowledged that some sensitive information has indeed been obtained by the media over the past three years. However, he added: "No one, least of all myself, would deny that certain matters must be treated as confidential and sensitive and not released externally. However, we should not allow this basic fact to be abused in order to impose a blanket gagging order on the volunteer representatives of various key councils and committees. This is not how a member-owned and driven organization should behave."

In response to Richards' exclusion from the World Council, the FIA re-released its response to BBC Sport from last week. The FIA stated that confidentiality agreements are "routine practice" in all organizations, that unauthorized disclosure of confidential information would "undermine" its ability to achieve its objectives, and that these measures were supported by an "overwhelming majority of World Motor Sport Council members."