Mosley declines compromise deal

Mosley is facing a vote of confidence in Paris on June 3 on whether he should carry on as FIA president after the sex scandal that has erupted following a News of the World story in April.

Following recent moves by the FIA's Automobile Mobility and Tourism chiefs to try to convince him to step down, the FIA's deputy president Franco Lucchesi and Region 1 president Werner Kraus tried to put a deal on the table that would alleviate fears of the FIA being damaged in next week's vote.

Japanese Automobile Federation chief Setsuo Tanaka warned in a recent leaked letter: "The World Council has unanimously agreed that we should avoid (a) vote of confidence at the Extraordinary General Assembly on 3 June, because if President Mosley would get no-confidence, it would mean disaster to him, and on the contrary, if President Mosley would get confidence, it would mean disaster to the FIA."

Now, Lucchesi has written to members of the World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism claiming that the compromise deal was offered to Mosley to try to get the matter sorted before next week's secret ballot.

The letter, distributed earlier this week and seen by autosport.com, said: "The compromise would have implied a renewed and unanimous confidence declaration towards President Mosley, together with a written communication from the President himself announcing his intention to resign starting from November 2008.

"The President would have left almost all public representation of the FIA to the two Deputy Presidents. This compromise would have prevented us from being divided on a confidence vote that the WCAM&T members esteemed to be negative in any case."

Lucchesi says he and Kraus explained the situation to Mosley, who, as autosport.com predicted, made it clear that he was not interested in the compromise offer and that he fully intended to stay on as FIA president until the end of his mandate in 2009.

The letter added: "Though acknowledging the worries expressed and the proposed solution, President Mosley reiterated his intention of requesting a confidence vote for reasons already summarised in the recent letter he sent to all the FIA Club Presidents. We could do nothing but take note of his determination."

Mosley wrote to FIA Club Presidents before the Monaco Grand Prix warning them that the governing body risks losing control of F1 if he is forced out.

He said it was vital he stayed on board to continue negotiations with F1's commercial rights holders - and made it clear he would hand over public duties to his Deputy Presidents anyway.

His refusal to accept the Lucchesi compromise indicates both his firmness to carry on, and his belief that he will win next week's vote without the need for such deals being put in place.