With a legal challenge already underway and rivals locked out of last year’s election, Ben Sulayem now wants to make his tenure open-ended
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has proposed the removal of term limits on the presidency of motorsport’s governing body, a rule change which would allow him to remain in post indefinitely beyond the current 12-year ceiling.
His new proposal is set to be debated and voted on at next month’s FIA General Assembly on 26 June in China, Macau, and according to multiple reports including the BBC, Ben Sulayem has sufficient support within the organisation for the proposal to pass.
Sulayem, 64, first took office in December 2021 and returned to his post unopposed at last year’s election after no rival candidate was able to assemble the team required to formally stand.
Under FIA rules, presidential candidates must submit a list of seven vice-presidents drawn from each of the organisation’s six global regions – including one from South America.
In Novembver 2025, Swiss racing driver Laura Villars launched legal action in Paris seeking to suspend the then-held FIA presidential election, arguing that the federation’s rules prevent any challenger from running against incumbent Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
The official approved list contained only one eligible South American candidate: Brazilian Fabiana Ecclestone, wife of former Formula 1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, who had already aligned herself with Ben Sulayem’s campaign. As a result, rivals could not complete their required slate and were effectively barred from the ballot.
The current three-term ceiling for a President was introduced by Sulayem’s predecessor Jean Todt, who served a full 12-year tenure himself. Before Todt, Max Mosley held the presidency for 16 years before stepping aside following tensions with Formula 1 teams in 2009.
An FIA power grab or tidying exercise?
The FIA has framed its President’s proposal as an organisational tidy-up rather than a Sulayem grab for power, saying it was about bringing the presidency in line with how other roles across its bodies are structured.
In a statement, an anonymous spokesperson said the aim was “to establish a consistent approach to tenure across all FIA bodies, similar to what currently exists for the world councils and the senate,” adding all positions retain the right to democratic election.
BBC Sport says when it asked the FIA why a decision was taken to scrap term limits entirely rather than extend them to roles that currently carry no such restriction, the FIA could not offer a specific answer.
Instead, the organisation pointed to the National Football League’s (NFL’s) Roger Goodell – commissioner since 2006 – as an example of long-serving leadership delivering institutional success.
Sulayem’s proposal has not come without its critics. Tim Mayer, who was among those barred from challenging Ben Sulayem at last year’s election, told BBC Sport term limits “are a fundamental safeguard of good governance,” saying they are essential to blocking the concentration of power in motorsport.
He also drew upon the example of outgoing International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who declined the opportunity to extend his own tenure beyond 12 years.
Raising the bar for challengers, or closing off the competition?
Alongside the FIA’s new term-limit proposal, two further statutes have been tabled.
The first would require any presidential challenger to demonstrate prior experience within an FIA member organisation or body, a qualification threshold not previously written into the rules.
The second would more than double the window in which candidates must submit a full slate of proposed vice-presidents, extending the deadline from 49 days before an election to 100. This vice-presidential requirement was what derailed the last election.
