Mosley Plans To Step Down In 2009

Max Mosley, who has been caught up in a tabloid scandal which saw details of his private life published in the News Of The World, has given his first interview since the story broke. Mosley spoke to the Sunday Telegraph, a paper which seems to support Mosley, and spoke of the embarrassment to his family as well as discussing the upcoming FIA Extraordinary General Meeting and his future plans regarding his role as president of the organisation.

The meeting in June will include a vote of confidence which will decide the future for Mosley in the FIA. The president has stated that if the presidents of fellow motoring clubs want him to go, he will leave. However, Mosley is confident that he will remain, but has also stated he will not run again in 2009 when his current term comes to an end.

Few people have come forward to support Max, but he states in his interview that for every letter he has received asking him to step down, he has received seven saying he should carry on.

The fundamental reason I refuse to resign is that many of the people who elected me, the presidents of all these clubs, have written to me and for every letter that says ‘I think you should step down’, I’ve had seven that say ‘you’ve absolutley got to stay’. Max Mosley.

In his interview with the Sunday newspaper, Mosley also confirmed that he is pursuing legal action against the News Of The World, the tabloid that broke the story three weeks ago, and has also announced his intention to step down at the end of 2009. Previously, Max had held firm that if it felt right at the time and others wished him to continue, he would run again for the presidency of the FIA. However, Mosley has now said that it was always his intention to step down after his current term ends, and that he didn’t make an announcement sooner because he felt that this would lose him the important influence he has.

That was always my intention. I was never going to go beyond 2009. I kept quiet about it because the day you say you’re going to stop, you lose your influence. Normally, I would have announced it in about a year’s time, but I will tell them that would be my intention. Max Mosley.

So no matter what happens in June, Mosley will stand down form the role of president of the FIA at the end of his term. That, to me, is good news. However, this is not necessarily because of everything that has happened in the past three weeks; looking back through the archives should give a clear indication that I feel Mosley has not served his tenure overly well.

I had previously talked about potential replacements for Mosley back in December 2007, and while that list will likely change as the time draws closer, Jean Todt must be rubbing his hands together at the moment. For the short term, should Mosley be asked to stand down sooner rather than later, I imagine the deputy president Marco Piccinini would take over the reigns until new elections could be organised.