Last weekend, the media outlet Bloomberg reported that a Saudi Public Investment Fund had offered $20 billion to Liberty Media, the owner of Formula 1, to acquire the commercial rights of the premier category of motorsport. However, the offer has since been declined by the latter.<\/p>\n
FIA President Ben Sulayem then took to social media to express his concern about the consequences of an exaggerated buyout price for Formula 1.<\/p>\n
“As guardians of motorsport, the FIA, as a non-profit organization, is skeptical of the alleged amounts announced of 20 billion dollars for Formula 1,” Ben Sulayem stated on Twitter.<\/p>\n
It is recommended that any potential buyer show common sense, consider the greater good of the sport, and propose a clear and sustainable plan \u2013 not just a lot of money.<\/p>\n
\u00ab It is our duty to consider what the future impact will be for the promoters in terms of increased hosting fees and other business costs, as well as any negative impact it may have on the fans. \u00bb<\/p>\n
Following these remarks, a letter from Liberty Media was reportedly sent, according to the BBC, through its legal department to the FIA president and all F1 teams.<\/p>\n
\u00ab The circumstances in which the FIA could have a role in a change of ownership of Formula 1 are very limited, \u00bb it is written.<\/p>\n
The FIA has committed not to prejudice the ownership, management, and\/or exploitation of the commercial rights of F1.<\/p>\n
\u00ab The remarks made by the president of the FIA on the official account interfere with these rights in an unacceptable manner and exceed the limits of the FIA’s powers and contractual rights. \u00bb<\/p>\n
As a reminder, the FIA is the commercial rights tenant of Formula 1 until 2110 and has agreed not to interfere in commercial matters, only in the regulatory part.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Following the statement of FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, Liberty Media, the owner of Formula 1, took a stand by stating that these remarks “interfere” with their “rights in an unacceptable manner.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":32970,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1749],"tags":[370,377,847],"class_list":["post-4533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","category-news","tag-fia","tag-fom","tag-liberty-media"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n