'Today the FIA is an organisation in crisis, facing the prospect of being ripped apart.'

World motorsport's governing body has been described as being 'in crisis' and facing 'the beginning of the end' following the outcome of the vote of confidence on Max Mosley's future today.

The FIA President - shamed by a lurid front page exposé on his private life published in the News of the World just over two months ago - survived a secret ballot called to decide whether or not he was deemed fit to continue in what is the most powerful post within the sport by the perhaps surprisingly large margin of 103 votes to 55.

Former Minardi (now Scuderia Toro Rosso) owner Paul Stoddart - a long-time nemesis of the embattled Briton - believes the repercussions may be such that the FIA will never recover, with a number of influential national clubs already threatening to withdraw their membership and form their own breakaway organisation instead.

"This is a sad day for motorsport because this is the beginning of the end of the FIA," the Australian told BBC Radio Five Live, suggesting the aforementioned threat is not one to be taken lightly. "The damage done is irreparable, and we will now see the demise of the FIA."

Those views were echoed by BBC sports correspondent Adam Parsons, who fears that notwithstanding Mosley's resounding victory - or perhaps even because of it - the damage to the FIA's credibility and future has already been done.

"He won by a clear majority," Parsons said, "but among those who opposed him there is overt anger and resentment.

"The US, German and Dutch raised the spectre of breaking away from the FIA in protest, [which] is an unprecedented threat.

"Today the FIA is an organisation in crisis, facing the prospect of being ripped apart."

It has been suggested that key to Mosley's success was the support of a large number of the smaller national bodies, with the more heavyweight organisations such as the American Automobile Association and its German equivalent the ADAC expressing their opposition [see separate story - click here]. That argument would mean that the FIA voting system of 'one club, one vote' would quite possibly have worked in the 68-year-old's favour.

"This is a very important day for motorsport," Confederation of Australian Motor Sport chief Gary Connelly told reporters in Paris. "This isn't just about the future of one person; this is about the future of a whole organisation with more than 100 years of history."