Following the letter sent by twenty-four FIA clubs to the FIA President demanding an immediate agreement to step down, Mr Mosley has issued the following response:

Dear Presidents

Thank you for your letter of 28 May.

I will use your numbering in this reply.

1. I did not accept the proposal from some (but not, as you incorrectly suggest, all) members of the Mobility World Council because it was the worst possible solution. I would have resigned, yet still spent the summer carrying out all the day-to-day work with neither the time nor the authority to complete the major outstanding tasks. Better to stop immediately than accept this muddled compromise.

Your suggestion of a "crisis" is nonsense. Although I am personally embarrassed and greatly regret that this affair has become public, no one fails to call for roadside assistance because of it.

As I said in my earlier letters, the communications I received from club presidents were overwhelmingly in favour of my remaining as president. I therefore had no choice but to submit the question to the FIA membership as a whole. I certainly could not have simply ignored the majority and resigned.

2. Some of the larger clubs among those who have signed your letter have previously contradicted their claimed commitment to the FIA. See the sample responses of the AAA, ADAC, ANWB, JAF, and TCS to the FIA Survey of 5 February 2008 attached. These same clubs have, of course, been trying to change the structure of the FIA since well before the events they now seek to exploit.

As stated in my letter of 23 May, several of these same clubs have formed groups separate from the FIA from which the wider FIA membership is excluded. Worse, they have obstructed our efforts to improve cooperation between all clubs. Combined with a complete lack of transparency, I believe these activities are contrary to the interests of the FIA.

3. Mr Ecclestone is willing to continue working with the FIA because he has a binding contract to do so. In his letter to the clubs, he says he is now willing to live with this contract. That is a sudden and major change in position.

Together with other member clubs of the FIA you will be free to express your views to the Assembly next Tuesday.

In the interest of transparency, I am sending a copy of your letter together with this reply to all the member clubs of the FIA.

Max Mosley

Note:

With regards the FIA survey Mr Mosley refers to:

The FIA launched the first major online survey of its member clubs on 5 February 2008. The survey received a very positive response to its detailed questions from 57 leading clubs around the world.

The majority of the responses endorsed the FIA's plans to improve cooperation and coordination throughout the FIA club network in both motoring and motor sport, for example, 87 per cent agreed that the FIA brand added value to member clubs and 82% also agreed that sport can be used to promote mobility issues.

However, a small minority of clubs, representing the major individual membership markets of America, Germany, the Netherlands and Japan demonstrated a consistently negative view to their involvement and interaction within the FIA community.

The following are some examples of the negative responses made to the member survey. They highlight a disagreement with some of the fundamental objectives set by both World Councils following the merger of the AIT and the FIA.

When asked if the FIA was the best forum to bring together the policy expertise of clubs worldwide, the ADAC disagreed.

When asked if FIA Sport could help to promote FIA Mobility issues, particularly in terms of safety and the environment, the ADAC disagreed.

When asked if the promotional links between the sporting side of the FIA and the non-sporting side should be strengthened, the ANWB, the ADAC and the TCS disagreed.

When asked if your club would be interested in more active support from the FIA in developing and communicating policy campaigns the ADAC and the ANWB disagreed.

When asked if a Working Group with representatives from all FIA Regions would help to strengthen the link between the sporting and mobility sides of the FIA and its sister organisations, JAF, the ANWB and the TCS disagreed.

When asked if your club would like to use the FIA brand on its website and other external communications material, JAF, the AAA and the ADAC disagreed.