Scathing letter from member clubs accuses shamed FIA President of putting his own interests before those of the sport and demands he step down immediately.
In a final bid to force Max Mosley to resign from his position as president of international motor racing's governing body before the crucial vote of confidence on his future in the FIA Senate in Paris next week, some of the world's leading automobile clubs have joined forces to demand he step down with immediate effect.
The disgraced 68-year-old has repeatedly frustrated and amazed many of the sport's leading figures by consistently refusing to resign in the wake of the lurid revelations about his private life published in the News of the World almost two months ago.
Since then, he has had to cancel a number of public engagements where his presence was deemed to be no longer welcome, and made a distinctly low-key return to the Formula 1 paddock at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend.
Now, a letter backed by no fewer than 22 national motoring clubs has been sent to Mosley entreating him to step down before next Tuesday's secret ballot that will decide his fate, in order to avoid causing any further embarrassment and damage to both the FIA and indeed the sport in general.
In the letter, the clubs underline their anger that the Briton has also snubbed the offer of a face-saving compromise deal to hand over power to two deputy-presidents in November in exchange for a guaranteed victory in the Paris vote - a solution put forward by the World Council for Automobile Mobility and Tourism (WCAMT), a senior body of the FIA.
'The FIA is in a critical situation,' reads the letter, leaked by Franco Lucchesi, an FIA deputy president, to other members and published on both the BBC and Press Association websites. 'Its image, reputation and credibility are being severely eroded.
'We strongly believe that the only respectable way forward for the FIA, and for yourself, is to have an orderly transition, with an immediate agreement and your commitment to step down.
'We deeply regret your refusal to accept the proposal by the members of WCAMT to reach an agreement for you to step down at the General Assembly in the coming month of November.
'This is a constructive effort to facilitate an orderly transition within the FIA and to find a solution to the present crisis.
'Instead, your intention to remain until the end of your term in 2009 - in spite of the severe damage being inflicted to the FIA - could imply putting personal considerations before the interests of the FIA and its member clubs.
'Every additional day that this situation persists, the damage increases. There is no way back.'
The FIA comprises motorsport and motoring bodies from 130 countries. Mosley's fourth term at the head of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is due to expire in October, 2009 and, convinced he will survive the vote, he insists he will fight to remain in his post until that date.
The letter was signed by representatives from America (AAA and AATA), Singapore (AAS), Germany (ADAC), Finland, (AL), Canada (CAA), Brazil (CCB), Denmark (FDM), France (FFA), India (FIAA), Japan (JAF), the Netherlands (KNAC), Sweden (M), Hungary (MAK), Israel (MEMSI), Austria (OEMTC), Spain (RACC and RACE), Belgium (TCB) and Switzerland (TCS).
