From left: Damiano ZAMANA (Deputy CEO & Operations Director); Jan STOVICEK (Board Member); Håkan LEEMAN (Board Member); Abdulrahmann AL MANNAI (Board Member); Giovanni COPIOLI (Board Member); Jacques BOLLE (Vice-President); Ignacio VERNEDA (Deputy President); Jorge VIEGAS (FIM President); Françoise EMERY (FIM CEO); Robert DINGMAN (FIM North America President); Martin DE GRAAFF (FIM Europe President); Pedro VENTURO Jr (FIM Latin America President); Stephan CARAPIET (FIM Asia President); Marco COMANA (FIM Africa President); Peter DOYLE (FIM Oceania President) via Zoom.
The Board of Directors met for its last meeting of the year in Monaco and via videoconference on 30 November and 1 December 2021 in the framework of the General Assembly and FIM Awards to be held on Friday and Saturday 3 and 4 December 2021. All Board Members except one were able to attend in person the meeting.
On this occasion, the Board addressed many topics, in particular the following:
COVID-19 pandemic: Thanks to the strong commitment of the FIM Family and stakeholders, all World Championships/Cups and Prizes could be held with only minor cancellations or changes in spite of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the 2021 sporting and non-sporting calendars.
Sport: All disciplines were discussed with a focus on the new promoters starting as from 2022:
• Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O) - a contract was signed with Amaury Sport Organisation (A.S.O) for 2022-2026 for the promotion of the FIM Cross-Country Rally World Championship, which will be renamed FIM World Rally-Raid Championship;
• Prime Stadium - the FIM signed a contract with Prime Stadium for the promotion of the FIM Enduro World Championship for 2022-2031;
• E-Xplorer - a promotion contract was signed with E-Xplorer for the FIM E-Xplorer World Cup from 2022 to 2024 and the FIM E-Xplorer World Championship from 2025 to 2031.
Discussions were held for the promotion of the FIM Supercross World Championship and the FIM Trial World Championship as from 2022. The Board also addressed the FIM MiniGP World Series, the newest path on the road to MotoGP, which was launched in 2021. This Series, designed to unify and standardise MiniGP competitions, aims to create an equal platform for young riders worldwide and increase their skills and opportunities. Alpe Adria, France, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Netherlands, North America, Portugal, Spain and United Kingdom were part of the new Series in 2021. Discussions related to the level of sound emissions took place during the Board meeting. Sound limitation thresholds were agreed for Motocross, Enduro and Cross-Country disciplines. The FIM is committed to making the sport safer every day by applying additional safety regulations and improvements such as new minimum age limits, reduction of entry list sizes as well as improvements in rider equipment and rider communication as from 2022.
Finance: The Board agreed on changes in calendar and licence fees which will be presented to the General Assembly for approval. The Board also approved the appointment of Deloitte, one of the four worldwide largest audit and consulting firms, as external auditors for the 2022-2024 financial statements, succeeding PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition, the Board decided to revise the amounts of the Continental Unions administrative grants.
Platform and digitalisation: The medical data platform (accidentology and riders’ status), aiming to provide a unique reference point for the FIM Medical Director and all FIM Chief Medical Officers, was presented. This platform will allow to track the health status of the riders and to monitor the frequency and type of accident and related medical consequences in each case. The Working Group on digitalisation presented its report to the Board that included initial thoughts of a digital strategy for the FIM.
FMNs survey: The outcome of the 2021 FMNs survey was shown to the Board. Out of 115 national federations, 98 responded. Data related among others to the number of national events and licences per discipline, the needs for training, digital tools and other services were gathered. The results of this survey will be presented to the General Assembly.
Safeguarding and welfare: Gender equality is a core value for the FIM, which constantly strives to ensure the well-being of all riders and stakeholders and that motorcycling is open to all without discrimination. A first draft of the safeguarding and welfare policy was presented to the Board.
Marketing and Digital: The sponsorships and digital activations for the 2020-2021 FIM Awards ceremony, the biggest ever gathering of FIM World Champions and FIM Family Members, were presented to the Board. The FIM Awards ceremony will be streamed live on FIM-AWARDS.COM and Facebook on 4 December 2021.
Communication: An in-depth analysis of the 2021 communication initiatives was presented to the Board, highlighting the editorial contents, the media accreditations and press cards management, the interviews and press conferences as well as the presence of the FIM Hospitality on events which welcomed more than 1,200 guests in 2021.
2022 Commissions Conference: The event will take place in Divonne-les-Bains (France) on 12-13 February.
2022 General Assembly and FIM Awards: Following a tender process, the Board agreed to retain the city of Rimini (Italy) for hosting of the 2022 General Assembly and FIM Awards. It was decided to offer the possibility to host the 2023 FIM year-end events to the Nordic town of Lathi (Finland).
Amendments to Codes and Regulations: The Board approved amendments to the Statutes and By-Laws as well as to the Sporting Code that will be submitted to the General Assembly for consideration. Several amendments to the Medical Code were also agreed on by the Board.
International Foundation for Motorcycling (IFM): The main IFM activities of 2021 were presented to the Board and a first version of the Foundation website (www.fim-foundation.com) was shown. The IFM Board will hold its second meeting on 4 December 2021 in the framework of the FIM events in Monaco. Items such as the 2022 budget and activities, appointments of external auditors for 2022 and members of the contributors’ advisory council will be addressed during this meeting.
Awards & Recognition: The Board awarded the gold medal Nicolas Rodil del Valle to Mr Fujio Yoshimura, President of Yoshimura Japan, in recognition of his international active role in the practice, promotion and development of motorcycling. The Board also approved the independent juries’ recommendations for the 2021 FIM Environment and Women in Motorcycling Trophies awardees as well as the 2020-2021 FIM Family Trophy winner.
Commissions: The following appointments were approved by the Board:
- CFM - Member, Mrs Faye Ho (ACU)
- CCP - Member, Mr Claudio Schmit (CAMOD)
- CMI - Member, Dr Michael Thumm (MA)
In addition, the CONU Presidents, the Board Committees, the Working Groups and the departments of the Administration presented progress reports on their respective projects.
FIM Communications