The FIA is not permitted to “perform their duties in situations involving an existing or potential conflict of interest”, which should have stopped them completing their role in the sale of F1. As F1’s governing body, the FIA was required to complete a “fit and proper persons test” of Liberty before the sale.
However, former owners CVC sold shares of the sport to the FIA in 2013. The cut-rate price of $500,000 bought the FIA a 1% stake, but the sale of F1 to Liberty earned the governing body nearly $80 million. So, when the FIA were asked if Liberty were “fit and proper”, that also meant asking “do you want to earn $79.5 million?”, which may qualify as a conflict of interest.
Though F1 CEO Chase Carey says he was not involved in the sale, he commented on the situation.
“[The FIA] owned a percentage. They got a fair value for what they owned,” he told ITV. “My experience of them is a handful of months. They regulate the sport in a fair and even handed way.”
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