The FIA has insisted that two of its leading figures are within the rules by lobbying for Jean Todt to be elected as its new president.
Leaked emails reveal leading figures campaigning for Todt
The FIA has insisted that two of its leading figures are within the rules by lobbying for Jean Todt to be elected as the new president of world motorsport's governing body.
According to leaked emails seen by Press Association Sport's
www.thesportbriefing.com, FIA Motor Sport Safety Development Fund programmes chairman Peter Doggwiler and FIA Foundation director general David Ward have both been working to win support for Todt ahead of next Friday's election.
The ex-Ferrari team principal, who is up against former world rally champion Ari Vatanen in the race to succeed Max Mosley, can already count the outgoing president and Formula One commercial rights controller Bernie Ecclestone among his supporters.
However, the attempts of Ward and Doggwiler to further drum up support could be seen as being controversial given their positions within the FIA.
In one email dated September 5, 2009, Doggwiler, who is also director general of the FIA, asks a number of "friends" to see an attached "VP-Mobility list".
The list was released by Vatanen's campaign team the previous day and shows his candidates to be vice-presidents for mobility if he is elected.
"Please pay attention to the motor sports clubs in your region as he (Vatanen) now will start to lobby them harder and try to bring them over in his camp," Doggwiler writes in the email.
"Contact first those you think are still undecided and keep those which are already on our side."
The email, which has not previously been made public, is written from Doggwiler's FIA email account and includes a copy sent to what appears to be Todt's personal account.
Efforts
In an email dated September 1, 2009, Doggwiler also urges Todt supporters to step up their lobbying efforts.
The email, which carries "Phase 2 - Intensified Lobbying" in the subject line, states: "Please intensify your calls and monitoring activities towards the smaller clubs and the motor sport clubs in particular.
"Try to convince the undecided clubs and keep the decided clubs on board...I will send an updated lobbying list to those of you where changes have occurred and I will call you this week to see where we are so I can make an adequate report to Jean."
An undated email from Ward's personal email account, apparently sent to Nick Craw, who is Todt's candidate to run the FIA Senate, states: "I fully agree with your suggestions regarding a more intensive lobbying strategy with the smaller mobility clubs."
The email adds: "I think we need to expose the hypocrisy of the larger clubs and make sure that the smaller clubs stay with us."
The FIA has responded to the emails, and to fears about the transparency of the election, by insisting that, as far as it is aware, no rules are being broken.
"We are aware that people are campaigning on behalf of both candidates," an FIA spokesperson said.
"But the election is being conducted in accordance with the FIA statutes and with the law. Nothing we have seen has contradicted that."
