David Ward may have given up his candidacy for the FIA presidency, unable to find enough support in one region to qualify for the election, but he has not given up on his efforts to change the system. The plan to have the statutes changed by the General Assembly is not going to work, because the proposal must go through the two World Councils and they are unlikely to do anything that will upset the apple cart. Ward, however, has gone to a company called I Trust Sport Ltd, a company dedicated to improving governance in international sport for an assessment of the FIA’s governance. This identified areas for improvement, particularly in financial reporting.
The primary findings of this body were that the FIA’s financial accounts are not published, the remuneration of elected officials and senior staff is not published and there is a lack of independent, non-executive members in the FIA Senate and World Councils.
The body said the FIA was strong is some areas, notably the the International Tribunal and International Court of Appeal, which provide a comprehensive system for dealing with disciplinary matters which is much better than than most other sports. It also found that there was a new code of ethics and that the federation invests extensively in its non-profit objectives regarding motor sport training and road safety, through the FIA Foundation.
“The FIA administers a popular and highly complex sport. Analysis of FIA governance shows that they do many things well – such as investing in motor racing training and road safety – but there is a lack of transparency in financial reporting in particular,” said Rowland Jack, Founder of I Trust Sport. “At a time of intense external scrutiny, some straightforward reforms could make a big difference to FIA governance.”
Ward, who commissioned the study, hopes that the independent report will get the FIA membership thinking about what can be done to create a better federation.
It remains to be seen whether anything will come of it.
joeblogsf1 
Did this outsider have Todt’s permission to go snooping around the Place de Concorde? Or was it all done from a distance? If so how?
I cannot see Todt even acknowledging the existence of a report which he or the FIA did not commission themselves. Coould this could backfire in a Gary Hartmann type of way?
Governance is based on written rules. You can read them in the FIA or standing on a beach towel in Vladivostok. It does not matter…
So that’s his out then? A nice cushy consultant contract? Fair enough.
Interesting indeed!
Doubt it will change anything. Politicians tend to look at the big picture (as they see it – and with more information than I would ever have, to be fair) and ignore everything else that might actually matter to constituents. The FIA may be different to most in that it fulfills it’s core functions admirably, but please don’t look too close at the long lunches and “necessary” overseas trips – pre-election or pre-pre-election, for example.
I find it very difficult to convince myself that anyone who was an ally of the Dear Departed Mr Moseley will be a True Believer in righteousness, squeaky clean governance and goodwill to all (motoring) mankind. That does not necessarily absolve the current “Vorstand” of the FIA from valid criticism for its perceived rickety business practices, but Mr Ward’s reliance on outside help to whinge at them, does make one wonder why he protesteth – perhaps – too much?
Maybe he’s right…
I guess that depends if he has membership of the correct old boys clubs, learnt the correct handshakes and winks etc..
At what point might FIA governance end up hitting their bottom line? The impression I get is that as long as the most visible areas of their work, the top level motorsport, is administered (apparently) well and fairly and their policing of the rules of the sport reamins robust, the FIA doesn’t really have to change.
Even FIFA, which is a hilarious mess of infighting and corruption, is able to get away with, well “murder” is a bit strong but they’re bordering on criminal negligence to be honest. But football remains, as a sport, relatively untouched by “sporting” problems (cheating, drug scandals, etc.) and so FIFA bumble on intact, claiming (against the majority of the available evidence) that their governance is sound and the decision making processes are impartial.
Whatever reason or intended objective Mr. Ward had when entered this journey, I am pretty sure that the shake this guy did in FIA will have a important outcome in next years regarding governance transparency.
An independent study commissioned by the FIA Foundation praising the FIA Foundation (used to be headed by Ward himself)?
Sounds like political ‘science’ to me!
I mean transparency is important, but coming from a guy appointed by Mosley one can’t know what to think.
Go look again…
I had a 2nd look at the 6-page report (http://www.itrustsport.com/assets/I_Trust_Sport_analysis_of_FIA_governance_using_BIBGIS_tool.pdf) done by a professor and a few students based on 12 days of reading the material available on the FIA web site like you recommended.
Maybe he should commission a similar one on the FIA Foundation, then we could at least compare.
At the schools site there is a 55-page paper on the method. Sum of the score given to FIA is 14, while FIFA gets 17 and IOC gets 20. It’s about 7 variables each getting a score between 0-4, so a maximum score would be 28.
I believe Jean Todt has scrutinized the Foundation in great detail in recent years liking for failings.
merci beaucoup monsieur Saward.
yours truly agrees that only time will tell how things in this report paid and researched by a private group for the intent of shiFting the awareness of those in positions of influence at the F.I.A. when presented to the FIA itself in some mysterious context that this governing body will deem it acceptable …,…,…, is and continues to be a curious excercise in my opinion by monsieur Ward et al.
be well Joe* and please enjoy the international for profit enterprise branded as Noël / Christmas and Hannukah here in North North America anyway.
Ciao tutti!
The plot thickens. Pity ward pulled out…………………
Why is David Ward doing all this, Joe? I’m too old and cynical to believe in altruism anymore. What’s in it for him?
Nothing that I can see. Perhaps a little payback, but David is not a vindictive type, in my experience. There are some people in this world, myself included, who believe that humans can always do better.
Hmmm, is there ANY sport that is truly transparent and squeaky-clean? Obviously this is not to diminish the significance of any dodgy FIA dealings, but it strikes me that FIFA and IOC are two sports that would benefit more from scrutiny by “I Trust Sports Ltd”. Mr. Ward may well have the most benevolent intentions at heart but – rightly or wrongly – his relationship with Mosley rather undermines his credibility with this campaigning for transparency and regulation change. Mr. Todt may not be all we (as fans) might like him to be but at least he has the appearance of being a trustworthy, mentally consistent gentleman not prone to egotism, offensive personal comments, favouritism and overall as someone who considers the issues of a problem, not the personalities involved.
Joe, do you think Mr. Todt might alter his approach or change his policies after his inevitable re-election, either as a result of Mr. Ward’s campaign or due to the confidence a second term may bring?
No
Every time Ward makes a noise, he seems to act like a weak stage magician, saying “ta da!” and waiting for the applause that never comes.
He is no sort of electioneering politician, this one, yet I firmly believe him to be on the side of the angels. But truth is not the weapon it sometimes seems to be to those who seek to wield it.
If Ward wants to make a point, I believe he needs to remember (or ask Max) where some of the bodies are buried, and start disinterring them.
I think this is a bit unfair to Mr. Ward. I’m sure he is not naive enough to think that just pointing out things that that change is going to magically happen. And he is not necessarily as politically inept as you imply. For me, the things he has to say about the FIA have caused think more about of that organization’s role in motor sport and what is good and bad about it. I’m certain that to some extent that is what he is trying to do (see Robert’s comment).
As for seeing “where some of the bodies are buried, and start disinterring them.”, is it really the best idea to inflict that kind of tabloid politics on an organization that by all reports is doing it’s job fairly well in general? Maybe it is better to try and generate some reasonable discussion that over time may bring some positive results?
Do you think this shows that as much as wanting to be President of the FIA, what David Ward really wanted was the debate? To have the leaders of international motorsport discuss openly how their sport is run and how they can improve it?
He’s said all along that he wants the debate. However, he doesn’t seem to be prompting it at the moment…
More of the same stuff Ward brought up in October but now with the report. Main gripe, Ward wants FIA to do it’s financial reporting for all to see, while FIA just reports to it’s members. Conclusion overall: There’s room for improvement! Shock horror who would have thought that. Anyway if FIA wants external advice on how to improve governance they’ll commission a report themselves with a reputable company. In the mean time I’m sure there’ll be a bottom drawer somewhere at the Place de la Concorde to chuck the I Trust report in.
I think you need to open your eyes a little more. It is patently obvious that this is no longer just about the FIA elections. Ward has been defeated. His hopes for reform of the FIA election system have been axed. The General Assembly this week will not even consider the reforms proposed by clubs close to him. Perhaps the FIA members don’t care, but Ward is anything but stupid, so there must be some other reason he is keeping this story going. There has to be something bigger going on here – another level in the game.
Hmmm… What could that be? Are there any organisations bigger than the FIA that could get involved in how the federation is governed?
The IOC does not seem awfully interested, judging by the recent letter it provided to the FIA, saying that all was well.
Who else?
The French government perhaps: the FIA is a non-profit organisation operating under French jurisdiction. When the FIA got out of line over the Singapore Scandal a few years back, the French courts put the federation back on the straight and narrow.
Who else?
You may recall that back in 2001 the European Commission put a lot of effort into forcing the FIA and FOM to change the structures they had agreed between them, so as to prevent any conflicts of interests, which were deemed to be overstepping European Competition law. Could Europe be interested in the FIA and FOM again? There are a lot of folk not happy with the way in which F1 is being run at the moment. Might this be related to getting the European Commission to take another look? There is a thought…
We don’t know what is going on, but there has to be something behind this story. The fact that Ward’s moves achieve nothing might actually serve a purpose – because they could be deemed to prove the point that he has been making.
Time will tell…
I agree David Ward is not stupid, so sure he has an angle that probably most of us are not aware of. As to whom from the outside is taking an interest in FIA governance? IOC is indeed not likely and the possible interest of the French and/or Europe could be perfectly fenced off with a HQ in Switzerland.
Should be interesting to see how much money and people will be allocated to that project.
You would know, but I believe that the FIA has a longstanding deal with the French tax authorities not to leave France…. without a massive tax bill landing on the doormat at the Place de la Concorde. I cannot see the offices there becoming a letter box for a Swiss-based organisation without someone noticing that the lights were no longer being turned on. There are too many people watching for it… Perhaps this is why people are asking for consolidated accounts.