ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an initial overview of the career of Mohammed Ben Sulayem and his current role as President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates (ATCUAE) and that of the Vice President of the Federation Internationale de LAutomobile (FIA). It introduces the reader to the power that sport exercises as a medium for building relationships in the Middle East and overcoming language, cultural and religious barriers wherever they emerge. The chapter examines how the process of effective governance plays an integral role in the delivery and organisation of modern sport and does so whilst profiling related governance matters which are manifest in the management of sport on a global scale. Issues of transparency, accountability and fairness are addressed within the chapter, and examples of the value of volunteerism, good governance, and the implications of politics and legislative matters are also provided. In this regard, a high-profile case study, dealing specifically with the issue sport governance, serves as a suitable opening to the chapter.
2 Case Study 1: FIA vs. Ferrari in 2010
The Fédération Internationale de L'Automobile (FIA) is the governing body that brings together 213 national motoring organisations from 125 countries. As the FIA's Vice President, the author has a responsibility to promote the sport to the general public, but ultimately to ensure motorsport remains devoid of what many may consider to be unethical behaviour. The FIA focuses upon a code of ethics established around democracy and transparency, which it uses as a starting point for its worldwide operations. The FIA has established a series of legally binding statutes that are rigorously enforced by those in positions of responsibility throughout the FIA. The relationship between governance and legality within the sporting movement is a particular area of concern as the world at large becomes seemingly evermore bound by various legal complexities and requirements. A relevant example of the pressures faced by sport organisations is profiled in the legal battle which took place between the FIA and the Ferrari team in 2010. In the controversy that broke following the issuing of so-called ‘team orders’ by Ferrari in relation to the actions of their drivers and the team as a whole, the author was called upon to perform a central role in the resolution of this dispute.
At the F1 German Grand Prix 2010, staged at the Hockenheim circuit, Ferrari's Felipe Massa (who had dominated the race from its beginning and was leading coming into the final laps) pulled aside and permitted his teammate Fernando Alonso to pass him in an unchallenged manner. Alonso had been leading the F1 Driver's Championship and it may have been considered by some to be in the best interests of the Ferrari team to secure a first and second place finish in the race, with Alonso of course claiming first prize. This act by Ferrari was thought to have constituted a ‘team order’, which is deemed illegal within the sport of F1 as it is seen to affect an unnatural outcome to an otherwise competitive race. The incident provoked a widespread backlash against Ferrari from other teams and indeed fans and commentators of the sport argued its actions had damaged the credibility of motorsport as an industry. Ferrari argued that this act did not constitute a ‘team order’, but nevertheless the stewards decided that it had contravened Article 39.1 of the sporting regulations, which states that ‘team orders which interfere with a race result are prohibited’ and article 151 (c) of the International Sporting Code, which outlaws ‘any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests to any competition or the interests of motor sport generally’. The stewards at the race decided to impose a maximum fine of US $100,000 on Ferrari and also forwarded their decision to the World Motor Sport Council (WMSC), meaning that Ferrar 3could have faced further repercussions in the wake of the stewards' verdict at the event.
After the fine had been imposed on the team, and maintaining Ferrari's innocence, Team Director Stefano Domenicali stated: ‘…in the interests of sport, we have decided not to go through a procedure of appealing against it, confident that the World Council will know how to evaluate the overall facts correctly’. Felipe Massa, who pulled aside to let his teammate overtake him in the dying moments of the race, responded to critics by saying, ‘In my opinion this was not a case of team orders: my engineer kept me constantly informed on what was going on behind me, especially when I was struggling a bit on the hard tyres; so I decided to do the best thing for the team, and a one-two finish is the best possible result’. The FIA decided that there was insufficient evidence to prove any guilt on Ferrari's part. However, it did decide to uphold the financial penalty placed upon the team, but also agreed that it (the FIA) would review the rules in relation to team orders from that point forward.
This was an interesting case in terms of governance issues within a modern sport organisation. Both Ferrari and the FIA had instructed legal teams to represent them at the hearing in Paris, whilst members of the FIA essentially constituted the jury throughout its hearing. Although conflicts of interest will inevitably arise in various situations relating to this style of governance, it is important that an organisation such as the FIA can regulate and enforce the rules of its sport in an independent manner, without the need for recourse to the wider legal or political communities. In order for an organisation to sustain such privileges, it is clear that the FIA and other major sports governing bodies must govern in a professional, democratic and completely impartial manner.
