FIA appoint top British barrister and PSG secretary general to oversee budget cap

The FIA has appointed a British barrister, a senior sports lawyer from Australia and the secretary-general of Paris St Germain to adjudicate over the incoming budget cap from next season.

The initial three-man Cost Cap Adjudication Panel has been elected following a meeting of the FIA's Annual General Assembly in Geneva that due to Covid-19 precautions was forced to be a hybrid physical/online meeting.

The panel includes Christopher Stoner QC, who specialises in both property litigation and the regulatory and disciplinary aspects of sports law.

Stoner has accrued many years of experience in appearing before various tribunals, from small domestic disciplinary hearings to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland as well as in High Court litigation, and across numerous sports, including football, swimming, cricket, tennis, rugby and boxing.

The 53-year-old barrister has extensive experience of drafting numerous regulations covering matters such as anti-doping, on-field etiquette and selection matters.

Stoner is joined on the team by Australian Tiran Gunawardena, a senior associate in the sports law team at London-based law firm Mills & Reeve.

Gunawardena, who is also a Disciplinary Panel member for both England Boxing and British Gymnastics, primarily focuses on international sports arbitration, representing clients before the Football Association, FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The final member is Victoriano Melero, who has served in his role as PSG secretary-general since 2017 after previously working as deputy director-general of the French Football Federation. He is also a member of the Appeals Body for UEFA.

The FIA had hoped to elect a minimum of six judges to the Panel. That has led to the General Assembly mandating the World Sport Council to elect those judges in 2021.

The initial cap for next year has been set at $145million. It has numerous exclusions, including driver salaries and the top-three additional earners within each team.

For 2022, the cap is reduced to $140m, before settling at $135m for the following three years.

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