FIA presidential candidate Tim Mayer says he will immediately roll back controversial “gag orders” and “fire at will” rights if he succeeds in this year’s election fight.
Mayer is standing against FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem in the December vote, and has pushed forward with his plans after revealing his manifesto.
His proposals include four day-one changes he plans to make in areas that have proved controversial under the current regime.
The first is to revoke changes made to the FIA statutes that gives the president the ability to sack at his choice members of the FIA senate.
Mayer suggests that in “no institution in the world should those elected to be the watchdogs be able to be fired by the very executive they are charged with advising and supervising”.
The second immediate action from Mayer would be to rescind and replace the controversial “gag order” non-disclosure agreements that members of the FIA world councils were asked to sign earlier this year.
These documents were met with resistance from members of the World Motor Sport Council in particular, with head of Motorsport UK David Richards and then vice-president of sport Robert Reid being barred from a meeting because they did not want to sign one.
Richards revealed at the time that he was considering legal action over the matter.
Mayer’s manifesto states: “In no institution in the world should those elected to represent the member clubs be prevented from talking to them about the issues.
“We will re-establish the world councils as representatives of the member clubs, with a duty of confidentiality only about commercially sensitive contracts.”
Mayer says this would also bring an end to what he says is “control motivated manipulation of member-elected representatives”.
Furthermore, he plans to re-establish the senate as the watchdog and ensure the president is a servant leader.
He also plans to get rid of presidential influence over the ethics and audit committees, which would move away from being controlled by the president and president of the senate and instead be fully controlled by the entire senate.
Mayer’s manifesto also includes moves within the first 100 days to make the president more non-executive - where the job will be more about providing strategic vision and building resource.
He also intends to bring in a new executive CEO, with Natalie Robyn having not been replaced when she quit the role last year.
In a video posted alongside his manifesto, Mayer said that changes he planned for governance were about bringing belief back to FIA member clubs.
“The FIA must serve all its members, clearly, fairly and with integrity,” he said. “We need an organisation that earns trust, explains its decisions and values, [with] open dialogue.
“Good governance isn't a slogan. It's the foundation for everything from fair sport to safe sustainable mobility.
“The FIA should lead on the world stage, not just react to change, but help shape it. That means smarter tools, faster systems, and stronger support for every club of every size in every region.
"It means real accountability, real transparency and leadership that listens, includes and delivers. This isn't about politics. It's about building a future the whole FIA can believe in and be proud of.”
The full manifesto is available here.
Mayer has yet to announce the list of his team members – which includes the senate president, and deputy presidents for sport and mobility – who need to stand alongside him on the presidential list.
