Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

"FIA" redirects here. For other uses, see FIA (disambiguation).

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Abbreviation	FIA
Formation	20 June 1904 (as the AIACR)
Type	Sports federation
Legal status	Voluntary association
Purpose/focus	Motorists' issues Motorsports
Headquarters	Place de la Concorde
Location	Paris, France
Region served	International
Membership	222 member organisations worldwide
Official languages	English French Italian
President	Jean Todt
Main organ	General Assembly
Affiliations	FIA Institute FIA Foundation World Health Organization Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development World Tourism Organization UN Environment Programme
Website	www.fia.com

The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. To the general public, the FIA is mostly known as the governing body for many auto racing events.

Headquartered at 8, Place de la Concorde, Paris, the FIA consists of 213 national member organisations in 125 countries worldwide. Its current president is Jean Todt.

As is the case with football's FIFA, the FIA is generally known by its French name and acronym, even in non French-speaking countries, but is occasionally rendered as International Automobile Federation.

Its most prominent role is in the licencing and arbitration of Formula One motor racing. The FIA along with the FIM also certify land speed record attempts.

History

The Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) was founded in Paris on 20 June 1904.

In 1922, the FIA delegated the organisation of automobile racing to the Commission Sportive Internationale (CSI), an autonomous committee that later became the Fédération Internationale du Sport Automobile (FISA). A restructuring of the FIA in 1993 led to the disappearance of the FISA, putting motor racing under direct management of the FIA.

Event history

The true history of Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's (FIA's) standardisation of rules. Then in 1950, the FIA organised the first Drivers World Championship.

The World Sportscar Championship was created in 1953, and was the first points series for sports car racing in the world. The championship was solely for manufacturers up to 1981. From 1981, a Drivers Championship title was introduced and from 1985 the manufacturers title was replaced by a Teams Championship. The last World Sportscar Championship titles were awarded in 1992.

In 1973, the FIA organised the first World Rally Championship. The 42nd Auto Rally of Monte-Carlo became the first ever FIA World Rally Championship event.

In 1987, the FIA sanctioned the first World Touring Car Championship. Initially a one-off series, the title was revived in 2005.

In 1993, the National Hot Rod Association was officially recognised by the FIA World Motorsports Council and the FIA Drag Racing Commission was formed. FISA was dissolved, and its activities placed directly under the FIA.

Organisational structure

Headquarters of the FIA.

The FIA General Assembly is The Federation's supreme governing body, consisting of the presidents of the FIA's numerous member clubs.

The head of the FIA and chairman of the General Assembly is the President. The President is elected to a four-year term by the FIA General Assembly, and from October 2005 onward will not be permitted to serve more than two terms. The previous President, who took office in 1993 and began his fourth term in 2005, is Max Mosley. Mosley did not stand for re-election in October 2009, with Jean Todt being elected president.

The 10-member FIA Senate consists of the President of the Senate; the current and previous Presidents of the FIA; the Deputy President for the FIA Mobility and the Automobile group; the Deputy President for FIA Sport group; and five further members elected by the General Assembly. From FIA Statue #17: "The Senate takes the decisions required by the management of the FIA when circumstances do not permit a meeting of the Committee or of the World Councils, especially in cases of emergency; decisions thus taken must be confirmed during the next meeting of the Committee or of the relevant World Council."

The Senate also makes accounting and budget decisions, preparing draft budgets for the World Councils. The Senate forms sub-Committees on subjects such as Commercial Promotions, in order to make recommendations and review proposals.

The FIA World Council for Mobility and the Automobile governs all non-sporting FIA activities, and is headed by the Deputy President for Mobility and the Automobile.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council governs all the sporting events regulated by the FIA. It is also responsible for the promotion of safety in worldwide motorsport, the encouragement of standardized regulations, and the promotion of motorsport in new markets, including developing countries. The council consists of the FIA President, and Deputy President, seven FIA vice-presidents, and 17 other members. The seventeen others must represent a national sporting authority for at least one international event.

The FIA International Court of Appeal is the final appeal tribunal for international motor sport. It resolves disputes brought before it by any of motorsport’s National Sporting Authorities worldwide, or by the President of the FIA. It can also settle non-sporting disputes brought by national motoring organizations affiliated to the FIA.

Other organisations and posts include the Mobility and Automobile commissions, sporting commissions, the FIA Deputy President for Sport, and the FIA Secretariat.

Presidents

President	Years as president
Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus
Etienne van Zuylen van Nijevelt	1904–1931
Robert de Vogüé	1931–1936
Jehan de Rohan-Chabot	1936–1946
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile
Jehan de Rohan-Chabot	1946–1958
Hadelin de Liedekerke Beaufort	1958–1963
Filippo Caracciolo di Castagneto	1963–1965
Wilfrid Andrews	1965–1971
Amaury de Merode	1971–1975
Paul Metternich	1975–1985
Jean-Marie Balestre	1985–1993
Max Mosley	1993–2009
Jean Todt	2009-present

FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy

Main article: FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy

In October 2010, the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy was announced; a new programme to develop young driver talent worldwide. After a three-day shootout in Melk, Austria on 6–8 February, twelve drivers were selected.

Criticism

In June 1999, the EU commission opened an investigation in to the FIA over anti-competitive behaviour in the protection of FIA sanctioned series. A settlement was reached in June 2001

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile

• List of FIA events
• List of FIA member organisations

References

• Autosport: 26 July 2007- page 8-9. World Motor Sport Council.

External links

• The FIA's official website
• 50by50: Global Fuel Economy Initiative
• Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile at Notable Names Database