Max Mosley Wins Vote Of Confidence And Remains As FIA President

Max Mosley Wins Vote Of Confidence And Remains As FIA President

Max Mosley today received a vote of confidence from the member clubs of the FIA, the secret ballot taking place at the organisation’s French headquarters in Paris. The vote has come about after Mosley had been filmed in a London apartment role-playing with prostitutes, photos and video of which were published in the News of the World and on their website in late March. Since then Max had requested this Extraordinary General Meeting of the FIA to explain his actions and allow the organisation to decide his future as president.

The ballot was counted by the FIA’s legal department with four scrutineers present and was held in secret, as in each member apparently didn’t know how each other voted, and Autosport have reported that the entire process of voting was overlooked by an external Huissier de Justice (a French state-appointed public witness). Of course, the members have discussed their voting between them and from the statements made to the press before and after make it relatively clear those who voted against.

Mosley succeeded in gaining confidence from the FIA members by 103 to 55, with 7 absentations and 4 invalids. The invalid votes are thought to be members who were not alowed to vote due to not paying membership fees to the FIA.

Since the announcement was made in France, Germany’s national motoring body ADAC have come forward to show displeasure at the result. ADAC had previously said they were not happy with Miosley continuing as president, and today reiterated their concerns.

With regret and incomprehension, the ADAC has learned from the decision by the General Assembly of the FIA in Paris to confirm Max Mosley in his function as president of the FIA.

For Europe’s largest motoring club, this is a reason to put down all its functions and the involvement in the global organisation of motoring clubs with immediate effect and to step down from the globally active FIA working groups. ADAC Statement.

In essence, ADAC have left the FIA and have said they will not change this attitude for as long as Max remains. And following ADAC‘s statement the Dutch national motoring body ANWB came forward to voice their unhappiness of the outcome.

I am not quite surprised but I am not happy. I voted against. I wrote a letter with 34 other, bigger clubs, to ask Max to step down by at least November 2008, but the outcome is different. Guido Van Woerkom, ANWB President.

Van Woerkom went on to say that he was intending to have lunch with some of the other clubs that voted against Mosley to see if they can continue with their involvement with the FIA. Van Woerkom explained to the press that many of the larger oprganisations in the FIA, such as the AAA of America, Japan’s JAF, ADAC in Germany and the Netherlands ANWB, all voted against Max and these members represent a large proportion of who the FIA essentially work for.

Britain remained relatively quiet and non-controversial, as it has done throughout the whole affair. The Motor Sports Association hoped that everyone can now move on from this and put Max’s antics in the past.

The Motor Sports Association respects the decision of the FIA General Assembly concerning President Mosley and considers that it is now time to move on and for the sport to pull together.

The Motor Sports Association looks forward to continuing to work constructively as an important member of the FIA in the future. Motor Sports Association Statement.

So Mosley has won and will remain president of the FIA for the near future at minimum. His current term is due to expire in 2009 and the embattled Briton has stated that he will not seek re-election. Although Max has changed his mind a couple of times over this and we shouldn’t be too surprised if nearer the time he flips the coin again.

With Mosley remaining as president of the FIA, one has to ask how long it will be before the former-barrister can return to regular duties; since Mosley’s antics have been published he has kept a relatively low profile and concentrated on pursuing legal action against the newspaper.

Are you happy with Mosley to continue as president? Are you pleased or angry at the outcome? Can Max really continue to effectively carry out his duties as president? Have your say in the comments, but please keep them clean and to the point.

6 comments

  • I am disappointed. Max is hurting F1 and the FIA. As president, he should have the interests of the FIA and its stake-holders as primary and not his own.

    He is not a true leader. He is a powerful man using his power to take advantage and to protect himself at the cost of those he pledged to lead.

    Congratulations, Max. Today you became even less of a man than you were. The only way for you to get back on track is to take this like a man and step down.

  • I agree head on with Mike. I completely disagree with this decision, and pessimistically, I expected this to happen.

  • I don’t understand how could they do this? it is disappointing of course but I am more intrigued by the number of people who supported him, the votes of confidence clearly double those against him. There is no way to put a spin on it, shame on you FIA.

  • @Mike: Thanks for commenting. I think most of the Formula One fraternity agrees with your thoughts, and indeed the majority of us F1 bloggers have been calling for Max’s resignation for years (so not entirely down to his recent ‘behaviour’). Unfortunately, in true FIA and FOM nature, the fans are not listened to, and what is even more worring (because we cannot expect to be listened to on this case) is that most of those involved in F1 (it has to be 51%+) no longer fully support or respect him.

    @Dan: Welcome to BlogF1! For those who don’t know, Dan runs a great blog centred around Volkswagen and their cars. Head on over to see pictures of new VWs, read VW car reviews and learn more about the company that still isn’t in Formula One.

    Oh, and I hate to agree with you, but I kinda’ expected the clubs to vote in favour of Max as well. It’s a shame, a real, great shame.

    @underdog: The president of the ANWB in the Netherlands spoke of money changing hands in the run-up to the vote. He stated that corruption was not what happened, but allured to other monetry benefits to those who voted in confidence of Max. You can read more about this on Autorsport.

  • F1 is headline news… Public interest and TV ratings are up…
    and the “Max & Bernie Show” is secure for another season.

    Whatever happens between these two men you have to remember that their professional relationship goes back many years and and as such rises above all public displays of animosity.

    Every action is taken for a reason and usually always in the direction that favours Bernie.
    The turmoil the FIA now faces as the touring arms abandon ship will nicely divert attention and resources away from the impending F1 negotiations (both commercial and sporting).

    As to who tipped off the New of the World? “Racing has become one of the last well-behaved sports. There are not enough sex scandals.” B. Ecclestone

  • I wasn’t immensely surprised, though I had hoped for an outcome that couldn’t be painted as a landslide victory. The small amount of excitement generated from first hearing about it from a big screen in my library was more than outweighed by the dread of the FIA being “led” by a president who effectively deposed himself with his inability to handle the consequences of his own actions.

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