A race towards credibility: the 2009 and 2013 presidential election campaigns at the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA)

Abstract

Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body of world motorsports, is one of many Global Sport Governing Bodies (GSGBs) facing increasing demands for good governance. By inadequately complying with international guidelines on organizational conduct these organizations, which are independent and powerful actors in global society, have received criticism from a broad range of actors. However, compared with other GSGBs like the International Federation of Football Associations (FIFA) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the FIA is uncharted territory. Through a qualitative document analysis (QDA) of the FIA presidential election campaigns in 2009 and 2013 this article therefore aims to fill this gap by examining the candidates’ struggle for credibility with stakeholders on the key principles of good governance: democratic representation, transparency and accountability. Drawing upon campaign material and articles in newspapers and in motoring magazines covering the elections, the analysis demonstrates that all FIA presidential candidates advocated a strong emphasis on these principles, but were vague as to how they should be put into practice. Moreover, the candidates’ attempt to procure credibility for themselves and for the FIA by raising the issue of good governance seemingly gained them few votes. Of several possible reasons for this two can be highlighted: first, because the FIA membership had more faith in the winning candidate’s ability to develop a stakeholder-effective FIA; second, because the FIA membership did not regard the credibility of the organization itself as being dependent on the adoption of good governance practices.