Ward outlines agenda on FIA presidency challenge

Following the announcement of his candidacy to serve as President of the FIA, David Ward has now outlined his agenda, stating what he believes must be done to improve the governing body of Formula One.

Ward, the former Director General of the FIA Foundation, proposes a range of governance reforms “to strengthen the effectiveness, transparency, and accountability of the FIA so that it can better serve the interests of its membership”.

In his ‘Agenda for Change’ Ward proposes 20 reforms that include appointing a Chief Executive Officer, a new Management Board and a Supervisory Board. He also suggests limiting the term of the FIA President to two terms and introducing cost controls to enable higher levels of investment in the development of FIA clubs, especially in low and middle income countries.

As part of the structural reforms for the FIA, Ward suggests it should be possible for a president to serve a non-executive role, which would then also include the appointment of a CEO by means of an independent recruiting agency. In essence, this would make the president chairman of a new management board, mirroring common company structures and reducing the authority of the FIA president.

In addition to this, commissioners would be appointed for each FIA World Championship responsible to the World Motor Sport Council for day to day management and supervision of the championship.

More relevant to Formula One in particular, he states that all revenue from FIA, apart from the regulatory costs, should be used for "investment in motor sport safety, sustainability, solidarity funding of ASN development programmes, and for training of officials and volunteers".

Also, similar to most governments in Europe, he also proposes optimalisations within the company to reduce overhead costs. He targets reduced overlap between the FIA institute and FIA foundation.

To round off the proposals that appear to be focused on structuring the FIA more like any public company, he also wishes to reinstate the maximum presidency terms to two, rather than the 3 as set by previous president Max Mosley.

The exact agenda can be found at http://wardandteam2013.com/agenda-for-change/

Ward has worked for and closely with the FIA for 20 years in a wide range of capacities. For 12 years he has been Director General of the FIA Foundation, and has held positions as Adviser to the FIA President, Secretary General of FIA France and of the International Court of Appeal and Director General of the FIA Brussels Office.