Open letter to Motorsport UK Members from David Richards, Chair of Motorsport UK | 9 April 2025 

Dear Members, 

On 7 April 2025, I received a letter from the General Manager of the FIA, Alberto Villareal, which, as per his request, we have published HERE in full for everyone to read. 

We welcome an open and transparent dialogue on the performance of the FIA, as should be the case for every member owned organisation. I would like to make clear that I have the highest respect for the team at the FIA who work tirelessly on behalf of the sport and their achievements over the last three years. They continue to maintain the highest standards of safety and regulatory excellence that is expected of motorsport’s world governing body and this has never been my concern. 

What is disappointing in this letter from Alberto is the disregard for the very real concerns that have been expressed, not just by myself, but a growing number of people, that the governance and constitutional organisation of the FIA is becoming ever more opaque and concentrating power in the hands of the President alone. My previous letter to members explained these concerns and for completeness I also attach this for reference.  

My current issue is with a requirement to sign an amended confidentiality agreement that doesn’t contain a clear procedure for evaluating a breach nor an independent process in the event of a dispute. I stand by my statement that this is in effect a ‘gagging order’ and yet these points are simply batted away by Alberto, the FIA General Manager. Furthermore, the subsequent action to exclude me from the WMSC meeting is in contravention with the FIA Statutes and unlawful under French law. 

I very much hope that despite Alberto’s letter, dismissing these material issues, we might yet have a sensible discussion with the legal counsel of the FIA and resolve these points. They are not insurmountable, but as currently written they are wholly inappropriate. So much so that various other parties have expressed the same concerns which has resulted in adaptations to the agreements that they have signed. That opportunity has not yet been afforded to me. 

So, in conclusion, there are many things to be proud of that the FIA team in Geneva have achieved over the last three years. But we cannot allow a shift of the moral compass of our leadership to simply dismiss any request for transparency and open discourse. 

I am in the Middle East for the next week and hope that I may meet with the FIA President to express my views face to face and agree an acceptable outcome.

Kind Regards,

David Richards CBE

Motorsport UK Chair

FIA Letter to David Richards, from Alberto Villarreal, FIA General Manager | 7 April 2025

Dear David,

Following your open letter of 5th March 2025 to members of Motorsport UK made publicly available on its website and picked up by the media regarding your opinions on the FIA President’s first term of office since 2021, I felt it was important to address your comments and clarify the significant steps the FIA under the leadership of our President has taken to transform and improve the organisation, financial performance and governance of the FIA.

The FIA, as is common in business, and I am sure in the many organisations that you have led, has procedures in place to protect and safeguard confidential information, including confidentiality agreements. Such agreements are very much a standard part of business.

The unauthorised disclosure of information not only damages the FIA but undermines our ability to fulfil our mission to member clubs impacting the objectives of growing motorsport participation, increasing accessibility and cultivating innovation in the sport we love.

It is therefore unsurprising that those steps the FIA has taken to preserve confidentiality were overwhelmingly supported by a super majority of World Motor Sport Council members. With this in mind, we struggle to understand your reluctance to be bound by the same terms and conditions as your fellow members, given you acknowledge the damage the numerous leaks from the World Motor Sport Council have made to the FIA’s mission.

As a responsible member of the Council and someone who operates with integrity, I trust that you could have no reasonable objection to an agreement which simply serves to reinforce existing duties of confidentiality, and which is in line with best practice for an organisation of the FIA’s responsibilities and standing. There is no question of this being a “gagging order” as your letter characterises it.

Under the leadership of its President, the FIA is delivering a lasting and positive legacy in support of the Federation’s global mission.

During the President’s first term in office, the FIA has made remarkable strides improving the financial performance, governance, and global engagement to ensure the long-term sustainability of motorsport and mobility. The financial turnaround is evident, with a projected €2.2 million improvement in 2024 compared to the €24 million deficit that the President inherited in 2021.

The President’s commitment to regional empowerment has strengthened collaboration across motorsport and mobility, fostering knowledge sharing and strategic initiatives that drive growth. Global motorsport participation continues to grow, with 2.7 million participants taking part in 60,700 annual events, across 7,200 venues.

Under the President’s leadership, the FIA has made key investment decisions, such as the recent takeover of the FIA World Rallycross Championship operations, and his vision of bringing an eleventh team to the Formula 1 grid, reflect our ambition to expand fan engagement, elevate our sport’s global presence, and protect it for future generations.

Throughout the President’s period in office, he has shown an unwavering dedication to diversity, inclusion, and accessibility that is reflected in our global leadership and initiatives. With over a third of our FIA colleagues being female—including senior leaders and global vice presidents—we all continue to champion a more inclusive community.

Furthering the President’s commitment to doubling global motorsport, the launch of the Affordable Cross Car programme, Motorsport in a Box, and the Global Karting Plan continue to open doors to entry-level motorsport participation and have increased the accessibility and sustainability to motorsport for clubs worldwide.

Sustainability remains a priority to the FIA, and we will unveil an updated 2025 strategy that strengthens the FIA’s global environmental commitments, while our engagement with governmental and international institutions, including the UN and European Commission, amplifies advocacy for mobility and sport. This commitment is underscored by the President’s appointment in September 2024 as a UN Tourism’s Ambassador for Sustainable Tourism.

We have led the expansion of the FIA University which underscores our mission to empower members with the knowledge to navigate evolving regulations and challenges, while the digitalisation of the eLibrary and archive has, to date, safeguarded over 1,600 irreplaceable pieces of sporting and mobility history for future generations.

Under the President’s leadership, the FIA is driving the future of motorsport and mobility with innovation, inclusivity, and sustainability at the forefront.

We are all, at the FIA, are very proud of all that has been accomplished in the first Presidential term and central to these achievements have been his efforts to improve the FIA’s organisation and governance.

We would ask that this response is shared with the members of Motorsport UK and published on its website in full.

Yours sincerely,

Alberto Villarreal

FIA General Manager

Open letter to Motorsport UK Members, from David Richards, Motorsport UK Chair | 5 March 2025

Dear Licence Holders, Clubs, Officials and Volunteers,

As your Chair, I’ve always believed, along with the Board and employees of Motorsport UK, that we are answerable to you in respect of all our actions. After all, our task is to serve the best interests of motorsport in this country and represent you, our members. In my role as a member of the World Motor Sport Council I’m also accountable to the full FIA membership worldwide and this letter has equal relevance to them.

For some time now I’ve had concerns about the erosion of accountability and good governance within the FIA. As you may have seen in the press, an issue has recently emerged that has compelled me to take a stand and needs an explanation.

First of all, let me turn the clock back to a little over three years ago when we, alongside the Royal Automobile Club, supported Mohammed Ben Sulayem in his bid to become the next President of the FIA. Many of you were possibly surprised that we didn’t support the British candidate, Graham Stoker, but the Board met with both candidate teams and was convinced by the well thought out plans that Mohammed’s campaign team presented, which very much aligned with our own views of the way the FIA should transform itself.

The key messages in their presentation were:

• A hands-off President who would be non-executive and delegate the day-to-day running of the FIA to a professional executive team
• The appointment of an empowered and capable CEO to run the FIA to professional standards
• Full transparency of actions and the highest standards of sporting governance

I’m afraid that over the last three years there has been a distinct failure to meet these promises. In fact, the situation has progressively worsened with media reports confirming that numerous senior members of the FIA and volunteer officials have either been fired or have resigned under an opaque cloud. Furthermore, the scope of the Audit and Ethics Committees has been severely limited and now lacks autonomy from the authority of the President, while our UK representative, who challenged certain matters, was summarily removed along with the Chair of the Audit Committee. Various techniques have also been deployed with the effect of limiting the proper function of the World Motor Sport Council, primarily the use of e-voting which removes the opportunity for much needed discussion and debate on key subjects.

This has become increasingly worrying and the final straw for me, three weeks ago, was being asked to sign a new confidentiality agreement that I regarded as a ‘gagging order’. At the time of my appointment to the World Motor Sport Council in 2021 I signed a confidentiality agreement and in fact was already bound by Article 4 of the FIA Code of Ethics. I remain committed to my confidentiality obligations under this existing agreement and Article 4, which remain in effect. However, the new confidentiality agreement went far further than this and, at a week’s notice, I was told that if I didn’t sign it, I would be barred from the next World Motor Sport Council meeting.

The key clauses I objected to were:

• Everything was now considered confidential, without any qualification, preventing me from necessarily sharing what I considered to be relevant information
• The FIA, at its own discretion, could decide if anyone breached the terms of the new confidentiality agreement with no process or frame of reference
• There was an immediate fine of €50,000 for any breach and a threat of undisclosed damages

The construction of this new confidentiality agreement does not comply with the Statutes of the FIA and contradicts the promise of transparent governance we had voted for. I therefore asked that we debate the matter at the World Motor Sport Council, which was just days away, rather than having it forced upon us as a condition of attendance.

My request, along with those of a few other Members who shared our views, was denied and we were barred from attending the meeting. This was in total breach of the FIA statutes that require all elected members be given full access to meetings. I should point out that I kept the Board of Motorsport UK fully informed throughout to ensure that I had their complete support.

Our Motorsport UK lawyers, along with our French Legal Counsel, have challenged the FIA on their actions by setting out a clear set of questions that the FIA leadership needs to answer. It is very disappointing to report that we have still not received an answer to these or the fundamental question I raised: where in the FIA Statutes does it provide for an elected member to be barred from a meeting?

I remain open to signing an appropriately revised confidentiality agreement, if that’s thought necessary, but only when we’ve addressed the key question of what constitutes confidential information and, importantly, who decides on breaches and the implementation of penalties and under what procedure. I believe I have a fundamental duty to keep you, our members, fully informed and the way the proposed new confidentiality agreement is structured would prevent me from doing this.

I acknowledge that over the past three years the media does seem to have gained sensitive information from within the FIA, including matters that the President should reasonably have expected to be kept confidential. However, these were in respect of reports to both the Audit and Ethics Committees and notably not the World Motor Sport Council, where we rarely discuss matters that should not be openly shared with our own Members and Clubs as well as the broader FIA community. After all, that’s the very nature of transparent governance that we voted for. No-one, least of all myself, would dispute the fact that certain matters must be treated as confidential and sensitive for external release. However, we should not allow that basic truth to be misused in order to create a blanket gagging order on volunteer representatives on the various crucial Councils and Committees, this is not how a member-owned and driven organisation should behave.

I should also make mention of Robert Reid, who was elected as the FIA Deputy President for Sport, and the promise that he would be empowered to work with the FIA Executive team to drive the sport forward. I think he has done an excellent job in this regard and made a positive impact worldwide. Increasingly, actions have been taken which have undermined the proper functioning of Robert’s elected role; this includes being denied access to materials, banned from meetings and even attending World Championship events. Again, this is not what we voted for.

So, what happens next?

Integrity is a core value of Motorsport UK and one that is central to who we are. Our Board and Executive Team will always operate in an open and transparent manner so that our members trust and respect our voice. We are fully aligned with Sport England and UK Sport’s Code for Governance which sets out gold-standard levels of transparency, accountability and integrity in sports governance. It’s therefore beholden on us to demand the same values of our governing body, the FIA. These actions by the FIA are in breach of their own Statutes. As a result, we have informed the FIA that unless they address the issues we’ve raised, we will be engaging in further legal action.

In a year when the President will either be re-elected or a new one appointed, it is more important than ever to remind the FIA of their responsibilities and continue to hold them to account on behalf of the sport and their members worldwide, and that’s what I intend to do.

Kind regards

David Richards, and the Board of Motorsport UK