Mosley wins vote of confidence
Filed Under: F1 News, Lead Articles
Max Mosley has won a vote of confidence to remain as president of motor sport’s governing body, the FIA. Mosley won a clear majority with 103 votes to 55 at the extraordinary meeting and will remain as president of the FIA. There were seven abstentions and four invalid votes counted during the secret ballot.
A statement from the FIA reads:
“During the Extraordinary General Assembly (EGA) held in Paris today, the FIA Member Clubs voted on a motion of confidence in the FIA President.
The FIA membership voted as follows:
For the motion: 103
Against the motion: 55
Abstentions: 7
Invalid votes 4
Voting in the EGA was made by secret ballot. Votes were counted in private by the FIA legal department in the presence of four scrutineers, selected by the EGA from a list of Delegates proposed by the Chairman of the meeting (the President of the FIA Senate).
The entire voting procedure was supervised by an external Huissier de Justice (French state-appointed public witness).
Paris, 3 June, 2008”
Initial reaction to the vote has been mixed with several delegates expressing their displeasure at the outcome. US delegate Robert Darbelnet has said he is disappointed at the voting outcome and is considering withdrawing his country’s membership. Darbelnet has also said that the result may cause a rift within motor sport and lead to a breakaway from the FIA.
“We should not rush judgement on this but one of the potential ramifications is the division or a split from the organisation that might, in fact, provide an opportunity for like-minded clubs to find a representative body in a different form,” Darbelnet explained.
Countries siding with Darbelnet’s vote include America, Japan, France, Australia and Spain, with all their automobile federations choosing to vote against Mosley. The German motoring federation ADAC, Europe’s largest automobile association, also voted against Mosley and has confirmed that with the result, they have now frozen all their activities within the FIA.
BRDC president and ex-Formula One driver Damon Hill was astounded by the results of the vote. “In my position as president of the British Racing Drivers’ Club, trying to safeguard the future of the British Grand Prix, we really need an organisation like the FIA to help us protect our position so that we can have reasonable terms with the commercial rights holders,” Hill explained.
“But it is very difficult when you have a president who is as controversial as Max to go to governments and argue the case for Formula 1. Not taking onboard the political atmosphere can be a strength sometimes, but in this case, it just seems to be inconsiderate for the sport.
“Even Bernie Ecclestone has said Max has pushed his boundaries beyond the limit.”
Dutch motoring body president Guido Van Woerkom has also expressed his displeasure at the outcome.
“I am not quite surprised but I am not happy,” Van Woerkom began. “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.”
Van Woerkom believes that some clubs may follow ADAC’s example and withdraw activity from the FIA. “Yes, well, I am now away to have a lunch with those clubs and maybe that is the outcome of that discussion,” he explained.
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jc tyler | Jun 3, 2008 | Reply
Goodbye F1, goodbye FiA.
We dont’ want the stink of a Nazi-prankster to attach to our products, we don’t support sports quietly accepting doping, we don’t back sports where the leaders are too stupid to keep their naked butt private, we do not like sports where the boss talks one way and acts another.
There’s a number of clean sports out there looking for sponsors. And the faster we can get out of our F1 contracts, the better we will feel.
The FiA? What a bunch of disrespectable xxx.
We’re now curious about one absolutely last thing: does the paddock have the balls to stand up for what is right or are they agreeing to be shown up by that nazi-playing hypocrite?
Boys, you better think about this one fast and hard. Seriously. Because you are facing a substantial loss of everything if you let this pass as is. Because if you let it pass, it will look as if Mosley has whipped your bare butts. Might as well get a sex change then.
Tony Stocks | Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Who is Max Mosley going to lie to next?
He was filmed for goodness sake!.
He should be sent to a desert island with Fern Britain where they could lounge around and lie to each other.
Get a good guy in there like Damon Hill or Jackie Stewart.
Christopher Hayes | Jun 4, 2008 | Reply
Damon - total god.
jc tyler | Jun 5, 2008 | Reply
Correction:
Correction:
I wrote: “We dont’ want the stink of a Nazi-prankster to attach to our products, we don’t support sports quietly accepting doping”.
I intended to say “We dont’ want the stink of a Nazi-prankster to attach to our products SAME AS we don’t support sports quietly accepting doping”.
To my knowledge, illegal performance enhancing substances have disappeared from F1 latest by the end of the 1990s and in that respect F1 is a clean sport these days.
What I wanted to say is that we do not support Nazi-games same as we don’t support doping. Both bring the sport in disrepute.
And in my opinion, to have the sport’s highest authority being too stupid to make sure that his private perversions stay private and thus dragging the sport into the lowest dirt is worse than an also-run being caught with anabolica.
Mosley always played holier than the pope. Now he turns out to be dirtier than dirt. He shows himself to have no moral standards at all. He is a little despicable no-wit nothing.
—
And rethink the FiA.
If not, when Mosley leaves next year, might as well then elect Mugabe.
Not only because the latter’s moustache goes well with what seems to be Mosley’s genetically predefined preferences for ideologies represented by that special type of square hair patch but because they seem united in spirit. At least the FiA would show continuity in what seems now a fourth-world-type of institution.