Ben Sulayem Asks the FIA to Scrap Its Age Limit for Office Holders

Mohammed Ben Sulayem is to put forward a proposal at the FIA General Assembly in Shanghai next month for the federation to do away with its upper age limit for office holders. Under the statutes as they are, anyone past 75 is precluded from putting himself forward as part of a presidential team, a bar that disqualifies a candidate on the basis of a birth certificate and not his deeds. A document viewed by BBC Sport makes the case that these restrictions reduce the number of qualified candidates available, pointing to some whose expertise would be an asset to the FIA. An FIA spokesperson has confirmed the World Councils have given the go ahead for the proposal to be put before the assembly in accordance with statutory procedure, and that the relevant bodies will retain full power to elect the officeholders they consider appropriate.

The clause under consideration was one of Ben Sulayem’s own making. In 2023 he set an upper age of 70, which was taken by many as shutting out Motorsport UK chairman David Richards, a name that had been put forward as a potential opponent. The following year the threshold was raised to 75, the federation saying it was in line with modern governance and current leadership practice for those seeking the presidency. It is the final structural impediment to the length of time an individual can hold the post; term limits for leadership were done away with six months ago.

In practical terms

Ben Sulayem, 64, has held the presidency since December 2021 and in December 2025 was re-elected unopposed as the nomination rules did not allow any rival to put forward a full slate of vice-presidents. For the time being he is at liberty to run again until the age limit comes into play. Without that one restriction there is nothing in the rulebook to stop him from standing indefinitely, a point his critics have been at pains to make ever since the proposal was made public.

The federation says the intention is to open up the field. The text is open to interpretation on both sides and it will be down to the General Assembly in Shanghai to determine what the rule is. The vote is being held a year on from the election that prompted Laura Villars to take the nomination requirements to a French court, the same rules that led Tim Mayer to withdraw his own candidacy when he could not assemble a full slate.