FIA chief 'fired after Mohammed Ben Sulayem loses confidence in him'

A senior figure has reportedly been sacked as a result of the governing body's president, , losing confidence in him.

Paolo Basarri was relieved of his duties as the FIA's compliance officer last week, according to . It is said that he was fired because Ben Sulayem was no longer confident in his ability to do his job.

Basarri is said to have pushed back against several requests from Ben Sulayem, who took exception to his approach. Asked to comment on his departure from the FIA, he is quoted as saying: "I cannot comment on this."

Basarri is the official who compiled a report into allegations that Ben Sulayem interfered in the operations of two races. The FIA president was accused of intervening to overturn a penalty given to Fernando Alonso at last year's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

It was also alleged that Ben Sulayem told officials not to certify the Las Vegas Grand Prix street circuit for its race last year. Following an investigation by the FIA's ethics committee, he was cleared of any wrongdoing.

Basarri is the second senior figure to leave the FIA in the space of a week. It comes after Niels Wittich left his role as race director, with Rui Marques stepping up to replace him for the remaining three events of the current season.

The FIA said that Wittich had decided to step down to 'pursue new opportunities' . He told BBC Sport earlier this week: "I can confirm that I got fired and it was not my decision to leave F1."

The exits of Basarri and Wittich follow a trend of the FIA losing senior figures over the last 12 months. Steve Nielsen resigned from his role as sporting director in December after Deborah Mayer stepped down as head of the FIA's commission for women.

Natalie Robyn left her position as the FIA's chief executive officer in May, having been in the role for just 18 months. Before that, Tim Goss walked away from his job as single-seater technical director. He now works for the VCARB team.

Director of communications Luke Skipper and secretary general of mobility Jacob Bangsgaard also left the FIA earlier this year. It remains to be seen if any more high-profile departures will follow, with the governing body struggling to keep hold of senior figures.