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Todt plans to improve FIA transparency

FIA presidential candidate Jean Todt has written to the members of the sport's governing body outlining details of how he would introduce change to the organisation's statutes to increase transparency and efficiency into its decision-making processes

The former Ferrari team principal is standing for election against former world rally champion Ari Vatanen to replace Max Mosley next month.

In the letter, Todt says that he would establish a 'Statutes Review Commission' charged with examining the FIA's current methods of rule and report its proposals in time for consultation ahead of the 2010 Annual General Assembly.

"For an organisation over 100 years old it is inevitable that Statutes require review from time to time to ensure that the organisation remains responsive to the needs of its member clubs," read the letter.

The SRC would be charged with reviewing various aspects of the FIA's statutes, and Todt proposes revisiting the debate on the candidate list system, which requires FIA presidential hopefuls to name their cabinet prior to an election - which is believed by some to weight in favour of an incumbent.

"The list system, which is being used for the first time in a contested election, has been subject to considerable debate within the FIA," said Todt.

"A minority of clubs have argued for no list, a larger group have favoured a shorter list, and a narrow majority favour the current system...

"We suggest that this issue should be revisited and further thought given to the development of a list system that is similar to the shorter list compromise proposed last year."

Todt also detailed his opinions on the role of the International Court of Appeal - which was most recently activated to rule on Renault's overturned ban from this weekend's European Grand Prix.

"We have already proposed establishing a Disciplinary Committee that could deal with specific cases referred to it by the World Motor Sport Council," said Todt. "This proposal will require amendments to the Statues and also the International Sporting Code.

"In addition, arising from the negotiations over the new Concorde agreement, changes are being proposed to the procedures of the International Court of Appeal.

"For Formula 1 cases, in future, judges considering appeals will be drawn from the ICA panel and also from a panel nominated by F1 teams. At present FIA members have the exclusive right to nominate judges to serve in the ICA. Some argue, we believe wrongly, that this compromises their independence.

"However, in order to ensure that the appeals system is seen to be fully independent there is merit in exploring the possibility of enabling competitors in all the major FIA world championships to nominate judges to the ICA, perhaps through the Manufacturers Commission."

Todt says that in addition to these issues, he would task the SRC to investigate the role of FIA vice presidents, the Senate and the FIA's regional structure.

He also called for the SRC to be assisted by an independent authority which would compare best practice with other 'corporate and sporting' governance.

"In 2001 the FIA co-organised a successful conference on 'Governance in Sport' with, inter alia, Mario Monti, then European Competition Commissioner and Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee," he wrote. "We would recommend that the FIA also organise a follow up conference that can encourage world sports federations to share experience and benchmark good practices in their governance systems."

In his letter, Todt reiterated his opposition to Vatanen's proposal that the FIA should give more voting rights to the larger motoring clubs.

Todt argues that membership size should not be a deciding factor: "The other declared candidate in the current election has proposed to change the voting system in the FIA to give more votes to larger clubs.

"We strongly disagree with this proposal which would simply concentrate power in the FIA among a small number of mobility clubs that have large individual memberships simply because they exist in countries with large populations," he added. "In fact some of our most successful clubs in both sport and mobility come from small countries and per capita have achieved very high membership levels.

"Why should they receive fewer votes just because geography limits the absolute size of their potential membership? We think it would be both unfair and undemocratic to move away from a system that gives all countries the same voting rights."

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