Fia’s Mosley Hints At Retaining Post

05 Feb 2009 | tshego

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Max Mosley has given a broad hint that he is to stand for a fifth term of office as president of world motorsport governing body the FIA despite previously claiming he would step down in October.

Following a year during which Mosley endured a high-profile newspaper scandal concerning an alleged ‘Nazi-style orgy’ with prostitutes, he had stated that he would stand down when his existing term of office expired later this year.

However, despite many calls from within the sport for his resignation during the scandal, Mosley’s victory against The News of the World in the High Court last year has led to rumours that he will stand again for a further term.

The 68-year-old was also buoyed when he ended the year on a high when the global financial downturn forced F1’s teams to agree to a raft of cost-cutting measures, which he had long been campaigning for.

Said Mosley: ‘When a lot of people say ‘you should stay’, it would be sort of churlish not to. At the moment they are saying that and it’s very flattering. I’m conscious that a decision has to be made, probably at the meeting of the FIA World Council at the end of June.’

Mosley then appeared to send out a warning to potential rivals when he intimated that it would be very difficult for anyone to stand against him, since candidates are chosen together with their backroom team and few would be able to match the support he has within the sport.

He said he expected ‘six or seven’ people to enter the race, although he ruled out rumours surrounding Sir Fred Goodwin as a potential replacement. The former Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive was linked with the role, but Mosley stated that Goodwin had called him to say it was ‘all nonsense’.

Said Mosley: ‘The interesting thing is where it could have come from. It has to be someone with some kind of connection to F1. He’s got to have some connection with Scotland. He’s got to have no understanding of how F1 or the FIA work, and he has to be unusually stupid. There’s at least one person who ticks all those boxes.’