The FIA has removed term limits for all its governing bodies, including the presidency, and has tightened the criteria that those aspiring to that office must meet in the future. The reforms, approved during the Extraordinary General Assemblies in Macao, remove any foreseeable exit date for any president and raise the eligibility requirements—two modifications that, combined, alter the balance of power within the organisation.

Until the vote in Macao, there was a term limit that operated as a predictable alternation mechanism, but with its removal, the president will be able to stand for successive re‑elections without a predetermined cap, as long as he or she obtains the backing of the General Assembly and meets the criteria that the Assembly has just reinforced. A federation spokesperson explained that the reform seeks a uniform criterion across the entire organisation, since the World Councils and the Senate were not subject to time limits. "The FIA has updated its statutes to establish a consistent term‑limit policy across all FIA bodies, in line with the World Councils and the Senate," the spokesperson said.

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That is the official version. The reading that emerges from the approved changes themselves is that the presidency now only finds its limit in the will of the voting members and in the eligibility requirements that, at the same time, have been tightened. Candidates will have to demonstrate a longer track record within a member organisation or an FIA‑affiliated structure—an adjustment that reduces the pool of people who can compete for the office, while the former Nominations Committee has been renamed the Eligibility Evaluation Committee, and all structures linked to the World Motor Sport Council have been reorganised to be called commissions, harmonise their electoral procedures and report directly to the World Council. The federation itself stated that the eligibility criteria aim to align the requirements for the presidential candidate with those of the rest of the members of a presidential ticket.

These reforms come during the second term of Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who was re‑elected unopposed at the end of 2025 for a four‑year term, and they revive a debate on FIA governance that is not new. In previous electoral cycles, several candidates failed to formalise their aspirations or withdrew when they could not meet the nomination requirements, and both Tim Mayer and Laura Villars were among those who denounced difficulties in competing on equal footing against the incumbent president. The system for nominating regional vice‑presidents was singled out then as one of the main friction points, and the current reform, instead of easing that path, introduces new requirements. Critics of these measures argue that the combination of unlimited terms and greater hurdles for aspirants reduces effective competition in future internal elections.

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The Assembly also ratified the 2025 financial statements, which closed with an operating profit of €6.7 million, a 43 percent increase over the previous year and the best result of the last decade. The statutory reforms were approved by a large majority of the members present, although the real impact of these modifications will depend on their application in future electoral processes and on the emergence of candidacies capable of meeting the new requirements.