Mohammed Ben Sulayem hits back at claims he manipulated the FIA presidential election. Mohammed Ben Sulayem has responded to allegations of manipulating the vote.

There’s a new, old president at the FIA

At least formally, the electoral battle for the FIA presidency concluded yesterday in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, with the re-election of Mohammed Ben Sulayem. This outcome was never truly in doubt over the last few months, especially since the incumbent president was also the only candidate formally eligible to stand for election. Substantially, however, the race is far from over, as former challenger Laura Villars has appealed to the French judiciary, contesting the existence of an anti-democratic procedure and securing a future hearing scheduled for February 16.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem responds to the accusations

Ben Sulayem chose to address these accusations directly from Tashkent in an interview given to the AFP news agency:

“I don’t understand why these other candidates didn’t go to Latin America to defend their program. You have to go to the places and meet the people, gain their trust and support for your candidacies. That is democracy, for goodness sake!”

The reference here is to the heart of the dispute before the French court: the absence of figures—who needed FIA approval before the election—for the role of vice-presidents for Latin America. The only person explicitly approved was Fabiana Flosi, wife of Bernie Ecclestone, a long-time supporter of Ben Sulayem, who therefore could not be selected by the other candidates.

“The electoral process has not changed,” he added, “because the rules were already in place and we simply enforced them. Am I unpopular? I don’t think so. I certainly wouldn’t have gotten this far if I hadn’t faced all these challenges, all these attacks. They attacked me day and night, but what do I care? I ignored them all and focused on the things I promised I would do.”

Defending his work over the first 4 years

The 64-year-old Emirati, who for the moment is confirmed at the helm of Place de la Concorde until December 31, 2029, then defended his performance during what has been a minimum of controversial first four years of presidency:

“I look forward to getting to work for the next four years. Cleaning house wasn’t easy, and putting the right people in the right places at the FIA was a challenge. But now I can say that the first four years of investment have paid off. And if you asked me what I would change if I had the power to go back, the answer would be ‘nothing’.”

Mohammed Ben Sulayem concluded: “I wouldn’t have expected to have to deal with many of the situations I handled, but they were simply matters of common sense. Before I became president, the FIA wasn’t fully taking responsibility for itself.”