At the end of November last year, Shila-Anne Rao stepped down as secretary general of the FIA, just a few months after her appointment. The day before, British newspaper The Telegraph published material showing that before leaving, Rao wrote a letter accusing FIA president Mohammed bin Sulayem of “numerous instances” of sexism and bullying.
In addition, the publication reported on “dozens” of FIA officials supporting Rao’s statement, and one of them even saw Bin Sulayem yell at her in person.
Shyla-Ann dared to tell him [президенту FIA] “no” in front of other people, which triggered his behavior,” a source told The Telegraph.
The published material did not go unnoticed by the FIA. A spokesman for the federation told Sky Sports of the allegations against Mohammed bin Sulayem: “The FIA takes allegations of abuse very seriously and handles all complaints under robust and clear procedures.
As part of this, the FIA has an anti-harassment policy and every employee has the option to anonymously report violations and initiate an investigation process. All employees learn about this opportunity through induction briefings and regular training.
With regard to the specific allegations regarding Shyla-Anne Rao, due process was followed by friendly negotiations led by the President of the Senate, and therefore no appeal was made to the Ethics Committee.
As we said earlier, both sides have agreed that she will leave her post in November 2022. In addition, mutual confidentiality terms were agreed, which is common business practice.
As for the other allegations, there were no complaints against the president.”
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
