Ben Sulayem accused of locking rivals out of FIA election

Mohammed Ben Sulayem is being accused of making it almost impossible for any rival to stand against him in this December’s FIA presidential election.

Three figures - American Tim Mayer and Europeans Laura Villars and Virginie Philipott - have announced their intention to challenge the incumbent. However, Spain’s Soy Motor reports that "it’s not that the candidates have a hard time winning the elections, but it seems they can’t even run."

The outlet says controversial new electoral rules introduced under Ben Sulayem require any challenger to present a full 10-person leadership team by October 24, including seven vice-presidents for sport drawn from a pre-approved list of only 28 names.

Crucially, the list includes strict regional quotas - and some regions have only candidates loyal to the current president.

"For example," the report explains, "there is only one from South America, Fabiana Ecclestone, who supports Ben Sulayem - which means no opponent can field a candidate from that region." The same applies to Africa, where both eligible names also back the incumbent.

Soy Motor concludes: "Game over. Changing the presidency would practically require a revolution in the central committee."