If he was chief executive of the FA or International Olympic Committee, he would have already stood down, Stewart went on. For logistical reasons, it could be well over a month before delegates can meet in Paris and that is too long to wait.
By then we will have had grands prix in Spain, Turkey, Monaco and Canada, and I don't think he can hold on for that long. It's more to do with him saying I'm going to have to step down' than the
FIA having to vote.
Given the unique protocol surrounding Mosley's position one that he has held since 1993 and whose fourth term is due to expire in October, 2009 there is no straightforward means by which to challenge his authority. Stewart believes the most likely scenario is that should some of the motoring organisations that have expressed their distaste for the scandal leave the FIA [see separate story
click here], then Mosley would find it increasingly impossible to justify his staying there.
Stewart also suggested that the infrastructure and composition of the FIA traditionally seen as untouchable and almost dictatorial should be restructured to render it more accountable and transparent, and that wholesale change was needed within the administration. He added that in line with that, whoever replaces Mosley must be new to the sport, rather than an insider. Former
Ferrari team principal Jean Todt has long been mooted as a potential successor.
There's a unique opportunity for the sport to be restructured [and] for the FIA to be restructured, the 68-year-old told the
Daily Telegraph, admitting to having been approached about the role himself in the past. I believe it can't be someone from within the sport. It needs to be a captain of industry, a CEO of standing, man or woman.
