Max Mosley has apologised to the members of the FIA for any embarrassment caused by recent news reports about his private life. However, Mosley has made it clear that he is not intending to step down from his role as FIA president over the matter.
On Tuesday, Mosley sent a letter to all the presidents of the national FIA clubs, all members of the FIA Senate, the World Council for Mobility and the Automobile, and the World Motor Sport Council. In the letter, Mosley blames the allegation on an undercover operation to discredit him and has denied that there were Nazi connotations in his actions. The letter also revealed that Mosley is intending to take legal action against the News of the World, the newspaper that first broke the story.
“From information provided to me by an impeccable high-level source close to the UK police and security services, I understand that over the last two weeks or so, a covert investigation of my private life and background has been undertaken by a group specialising in such things, for reasons and clients as yet unknown. I have had similar but less well-sourced information from France,†the letter from Mosley read.
“Regrettably you are now familiar with the results of this covert investigation and I am very sorry if this has embarrassed you or the club. Not content with publicising highly personal and private activities, which are, to say the least, embarrassing, a British tabloid newspaper published the story with the claim that there was some sort of Nazi connotation to the matter. This is entirely false.
“It is against the law in most countries to publish details of a person’s private life without good reason. The publications by The News of the World are a wholly unwarranted invasion of my privacy and I intend to issue legal proceedings against the Newspaper in the UK and other jurisdictions.
“I have received a very large number of messages of sympathy and support from those within the FIA and the motor sport and motoring communities generally, suggesting that my private life is not relevant to my work and that I should continue in my role. I am grateful and with your support I intend to follow this advice.
“I shall now devote some time to those responsible for putting this into the public domain but above all I need to repair the damage to my immediate family who are the innocent and unsuspecting victims of this deliberate and calculated personal attack.
“You can, however be certain that I will not allow any of this to impede my commitment to the work of the FIA.”
Mosley looks set to keep a low profile this weekend and cancel a planned visit to Bahrain. His friend Bernie Ecclestone has already stated that he thinks Mosley should stay away from this weekend s Bahrain Grand Prix to ensure that Mosley s personal life does not overshadow the race, and because the Bahrain royal family may object to the FIA president being present.
