Overview
- FIA member clubs voted on Thursday in Macau to abolish the three-term (12-year) limit for the presidency and the same cap across other FIA bodies, with the federation saying the amendments were approved by a supermajority.
- Reports and an FIA spokesman put support at more than 90% in favour, and the federation framed the package as harmonising statutes and strengthening governance after a recovered 2025 operating profit of €6.7 million.
- The changes raise the bar for presidential hopefuls by requiring demonstrable FIA experience and by extending the deadline to submit vice-presidential nomination lists from 49 days to 100 days before an election.
- Critics and former officials say removing term limits while tightening eligibility shifts discretionary power to FIA bodies and could make credible challenges harder; one prospective candidate, Laura Villars, has an active legal challenge in French courts.
- The vote rewrites a safeguard introduced after long past presidencies and now leaves the 70-year age cap as the only remaining statutory limit, which sources say the incumbent may seek to remove in future assemblies.