Max Mosley and the Meeting 02/06/2008 I have avoided talking about Max Mosley for over a week now. Our interest is motor sport, after all, and the business of Mosley's survival or fall is subsidiary to that, as important for the future of the FIA as it is. With the meeting that decides his fate only a day away, it is time to return to the subject, however.Max MosleyLast week there were letters flying everywhere, calls for Mosley's resignation from FIA member organizations, refusals from Max himself, and an interview with Bernie Ecclestone that made it clear that he has abandoned his old friend. Mosley extended his campaign to focus attention away from his activities by starting a court case against the News of the World in France and Jackie Stewart today withdrew his libel case against Max, reluctant to descend to to his level of sordid behavior.Max claims to have made the decision to stay because of the large number of letters he received from FIA members asking him to remain; at the same time, many of the largest organizations have written openly that he should go. It is difficult to see how these can both be true but the answer may lie in the voting system of the FIA - each delegate has one vote, regardless of the size of the organization he represents.So it may be that Max has succeeded in bullying large numbers of smaller organizations into supporting his cause while the larger members, less susceptible to possible consequences of rebellion, have proved impossible to coerce. But whatever the truth, the fact remains that the vote is extremely hard to predict (and many have tried). At times it looks as though Max will survive, at others he looks doomed.One thing is clear, however: to rage against the publication of Max's activities is to miss the point entirely. The News of the World was doing its job - to find and blazen forth the most sordid stories around. We may disapprove but the fact is that some publications exist purely for this purpose and the only reason Max is making a fuss about them now is because he is the one that has been bitten. Aspects of the matter may have been illegal but that is a personal issue between Max and the newspaper - and he is taking the right course of action to prove his view in that matter. It really has no bearing on the question of his ability to carry on as FIA President, however; that rests entirely on whether his conduct, as revealed, is prejudicial to the FIA and to the performance of his job.It is entirely possible that the vote tomorrow may result in a split from the FIA by the larger motoring organizations. They have already been seen to be moving in that direction, as pointed out by Mosley in his defense, and their determination not to be associated with Max may cause them to proceed with this if Mosley remains in power. With them would go much of the FIA's political clout. If the FIA wants to continue in its present form, it had better hope for a vote of no confidence tomorrow.But, even if that happens, there will remain the danger of a split and any incoming president will have to attend to this pretty smartly. The amalgamation of all FIA businesses under one heading is the cause of the problem, there being so little in common between its two main arms that it never made sense to govern them as one. They need to be separated again and given their own governing bodies, each with a vice president who understands their different concerns and the FIA president should have an overseeing role only.So, once again, I am talking about restructuring of the FIA. Included within that should be consideration of just who gets represented on the motor sport governing body. The national organizations have proved ineffective in seeking the best interests of international motor sport and it is time to consider finding representatives from the participants in the various branches of the sport. They are the ones who will suffer most from any bad decision-making, after all, and so are most likely to be careful about changes made.Whether any of this happens remains to be seen, of course. What we can say, however, is that Tuesday's meeting is extremely important to the future of motor sport and we have good reason to be interested in the fate of Max Mosley. In my opinion, he should have resigned immediately and has done nothing but harm to the FIA in hanging on obstinately. He has made the point that there are serious matters confronting F1 in particular in the coming months, with the spurious claim that he is the only one who can handle them. The truth is that yes, there are important issues to be dealt with, but Max is not the right person to represent the FIA in them - his own actions have disqualified him.Let the vote go against him and we will see what caliber of man is chosen to succeed him. From the names being suggested at the moment, I would say that there is some hope of the right man being found and, if that happens, we can look forward to a period of motor sport governance far more glorious than the disputatious saga of Mosley's years.
Clive
Keith Collantine It's rare to see F1 fans so strongly agreed on anything but over at F1 Fanatic 86% of voters so far want him to go. I have to agree with them and you Clive, it's a disgrace it's been allowed to go on so long. Date Added: 02/06/2008
Arun Srinivasan Clive, I have made this point across many a sites, and people, but they simply won't get it. What it is is, I want everyone to seperate personal life and professional life. We all have problems personally, and short comings. But that shouldn't have to interfere with how well we work. I love Kobe Bryant's play (he is simply the best out there now) eventhough I know there was a rape charge against him which was settled outside of the court. My fav band Metallica were well known drug addicts, and have done what not, but their music is one that I still dig into, even after 15 years. My fav tennis star currently, Djokovic, shouts expletives even when he plays in front of his family. I just run around the house when he wins a match. So I still have been surprised on how many people's professional careers have been interrupted by their personal short comings, Bill Clinton-one of US's best presidents, Mayor of New york, and many others. They are not our idols, are they? Idols are supposed to be speck less, not normal workers. Do I have a point? (By the way, I am not a fan of Mosley simply because of his work, and the way he hopes to carry f1 in the future, and I'd be happy if he resigns because of his professional actions) Date Added: 02/06/2008
Clive I have been following the progress of your poll, Keith (88% want Max gone when I last looked), and it is very clear that most fans agree on this. If only the FIA were to take note... Date Added: 02/06/2008
Steven Roy To an extent I agree with Arun that Max's private habits should not decide his fate. Frankly what he gets up to is not something I care remotely about. However the effects of his actions have now made it impossible for him to do the job. He has been banned from Bahrain. No-one at Monaco would be seen in public with him. The team principals refused to meet him. The drivers refused to meet him and the local royalty refused to meet him. The result of that is he cannot represent F1 and motor sport with any authority.A significant number of national touring associations have gone public against him knowing that if he survives they will be persecuted. They have made this move with the intention that if he survives they will set up their own organisation. The result of that is he cannot represent the touring arm of the FIA with any authority and may end up competing with former members.Max will do anything to hang on to power for the sake of it even if it leads to the FIA losing some of its most powerful members. Look at the percentage of FIA members who belong to AAA for example.There is absolutely nothing to be gained by the FIA or any section of the FIA by Max remaining in his position. On the contrary there is a lot to be lost including a loss of authority and the potential break up of the organisation.The only reason I can see for anyone voting for Max is self-interest and that is all Max and Bernie have ever been interested in. Bernie is now prepared to stab Max in the back out of self interest.I would much prefer that Max had been unseated for his incompetence, bias, corruption than for his extra-curricular activities but the structures and procedures he put in place made that next to impossible. In the end though so long as he goes I really don't care what triggers his departure. The problem is the procedures he has in place mean that even if there is a 100% vote of no cofidence he does not have to quit. How can an organisation allow rules like that to be put in place? Date Added: 02/06/2008
Clive The reason people don't get your point, Arun, is that it's flawed. The fact is that a man's morality does affect his ability to do certain jobs. Why do you think convicted criminals have so much difficulty in finding jobs after they have "paid their debt to society"? It is because they have demonstrated an untrustworthy morality and employers are not bound to assume that has changed merely though their sentences being served.In Max's case, his morality is of importance because the job of FIA President requires the incumbent to speak to and negotiate with people of many different cultures. In the western world sexual deviance may no longer be regarded as immoral but in other areas of the world it is. Even within western society, the majority probably are still repelled by such behavior. And so Max finds that hardly anyone wants to deal with him anymore - how can he do his job?I have argued elsewhere that immorality affects the way any job is carried out so I need not go into that here. But you have to accept that there are those, apparently a majority judging by Keith's poll, who do feel that Max's revealed tastes disqualify him for the position of FIA President. It is not a refusal to get your point, Arun - it is a disagreement with your premise. Date Added: 02/06/2008
Clive Obviously, I agree with what you say, Steven, except that I go further and say that Max's private life does have an effect on his ability to do his job, beyond the matter of meeting people from all over the world. The important thing is that he must go, for whatever reason, or the FIA will become a mockery (well, beyond what it has managed to achieve on that score already). Date Added: 02/06/2008
David That some 86% are calling for Mad Max’s replacement really comes as no great surprise.Fact is, over the years an increasing number have accepted Max failed the FIA in his tenure as president. However, influential sources such as FIA members and F1 teams have, with good reason, been afraid to speak out against their leader and the dedicated fan’s complaints have, as usual, fallen upon deaf ears while the sport spiraled on into disarray.Mosley’s sexual exposé provided the opportunity for everyone to openly call for his demise, and many have done exactly that ... in the large part based on this escapade alone. If an entirely different reason (other than incompetence) is needed to remove Max from office, then by all means let’s use it. Is that really fair? Well, I only advocate exercising one of the FIA’s myriad of rules - that of bringing the sport into disrepute - which he has not hesitated to use against others any time he saw fit. I, for one, will gladly take this alternate route if that’s what’s needed to see a final shot of his scrawny butt exiting the F1 scene ... hopefully forever! Date Added: 02/06/2008
Arun Srinivasan You've got every right to disagree Clive. Anyways, hope what's good happens and we have a new president, and a great Canadian weekend. Date Added: 02/06/2008
Clive I suppose it's a bit like the Al Capone story, David - he was known to be a gangster involved in all sorts of illegal activities but the police couldn't prove it. So they got him on tax evasion!You are right that he has brought the sport into disrepute and, by his own rules, should resign therefore. Hopefully we will see a new era dawn shortly. Date Added: 02/06/2008
Clive Absolutely, Arun, and it's good to be reminded of the approaching Canadian GP. If it is anything like as exciting as last year's, it'll be a cracker! Date Added: 02/06/2008
Steven Roy Clive,my e-mail is playing up and I know this is not the right place to bring this up but it is the best chance of you seing it. John Beamer has a piece on http://www.f1-pitlane.com/ titled The importance of tyres. Every time I try to access it I get a single line of text saying that I am not authorized to access it.Also I notice on Dan's piece on faux environmentalism that all the comments are underlined. That makes it really annoying to read. Is that standard now or is it a one off? Date Added: 02/06/2008
Clive Steven: I knew what was wrong with the tyre article as soon as I read your comment - it is fixed. It's been a while since I used our Yahoo Group but I will be sending out a message on submitting articles. This should prevent the above glitch from happening again.The underlining thing I can't duplicate so have no idea what is causing it. I'll pass it on to John - he's the techy brain amongst us! Date Added: 02/06/2008
Steven Roy I forgot all about the Yahoo group. I looked at it last week but didn't think of it today. Date Added: 02/06/2008
Pink Peril What organisation wants to be headed by a laughing stock? Make no mistake, that is exactly what S&Max is since this incident.Which is kind of fitting really, 'cos I thought he was a joke anyway and have ever since the 2005 Oz GP.Fingers crossed that sanity will prevail in Paris today. Date Added: 03/06/2008
francois He's just won the vote of confidence , by 103 votes.All hell will break loose now.I find it incredible in what is supposedly a secret ballot there'd be so many yes-men around in the FIA that are seemingly so naive as to not be able to see how he's dragged the association into disrepute , and will do so further now.He's effectively a passenger , now that his role as president will be rendered completely dysfunctional.I suppose Eddie Jordan was being rather optimistic when he gave a radio interview (on BBC Sport) in which he felt that Max did this vote to prove a point , and now being successful that he would realise the damage he's done to the FIA that he would step down.Something else Eddie said was also significant , he suggests sponsors might not be so forthcoming for some of the independent teams now because they would not want to be associated with "a sport in which a third of the members of the governing body do not agree with the principles (or something like that).T-mobile for example pulled out of cycling sponsorship I think in the wake of Floyd Landis's drugs cheating because they had enough and didn't want to be associated with drugs cheats.I don't think the FIA can afford to wait until the fall of 2009 to put a new man in as president when Mad Max says he'll be retiring , not sure if they'll even be regarded as credible by then at this rate... Date Added: 03/06/2008
Clive I am working on a follow-up post now that the result of the vote is known, Francois. The fall-out begins already, with ADAC stating that it will have nothing to do with the FIA as long as Mosley remains in charge. And ADAC is the largest motoring organization in Europe...Bernie was right - Mosley has no investment in motor sport and doesn't give a stuff what happens to it as long as he can retain power. Date Added: 03/06/2008
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