Despite lurid allegations about his private life and widespread calls for him to resign, Max Mosley is likely to remain president of the FIA, motor sport’s ruling body, until at least the beginning of June, when his future will be put to a vote.

As it became clear that Mosley’s determination to hang on to office could drag into the summer, there was dismay among his critics. They believe that Mosley is doing immense damage to motor sport and should have resigned as soon as the News of the World published an exposé about his part in an allegedly Nazi-inspired sado-masochistic orgy 11 days ago.

Mosley had asked the FIA’s eight-member senate to call an extraordinary meeting of the general assembly, the organisation’s supreme body, to back him or sack him. After a vote by fax, the senate decided overwhelmingly yesterday to agree to his call, underlining that senior FIA members wish to deal with the issue head-on.

On June 3, Mosley will go before 222 assembly members, who will have flown to Paris from all over the world, and will, in effect, dare them to oppose him in a secret ballot. In the meantime, Mosley, who has run the FIA for the past 15 years, is expected to embark on an intensive round of “shuttle diplomacy” to try to secure his future.

The developments yesterday came as Mosley lost an attempt at the High Court in London to stop the News of the World from republishing a video, filmed in London two weeks ago, on its website. Mr Justice Eady said that there was no point in granting Mosley an injunction because the material was widely accessible elsewhere on the internet. “There is, in practical terms, no longer anything which the law can protect. The dam has effectively burst,” the judge said.

Mosley was not in court to hear the judge offer him some comfort as to his prospects in his action against the newspaper. He said that the material, which shows Mosley being beaten and beating several prostitutes, was “intrusive and demeaning”. He also suggested that Mosley may succeed in persuading a trial that the alleged Nazi role-play did not take place.

Describing the video, the judge said: “The session seems to have been devoted mainly to activities which were conveniently described as ‘S & M’. They lasted for several hours. The brief extracts which I was shown seemed to consist mainly of people spanking each other’s bottoms.”

It emerged in court that the 90-second video was seen by nearly 1.5 million people on the internet between March 30 and 31, before it was removed after Mosley launched legal action. Last night it was back on the News of the World’s site, along with two more clips.

Mosley appears insensitive to the perception of his predicament and is leaving no stone unturned in his battle not only to survive but also to stay at the helm of the FIA long enough to organise his succession. He is due to stand down in October 2009.

He has hired Phil Hall, a former Editor of the News of the World, to represent him and to help to plan a media strategy.

How effectively he will be able to function as FIA president in the run-up to June 3 remains to be seen. Having had his invitation to the Bahrain Grand Prix last weekend withdrawn by the Crown Prince, it is thought that he will not go to the Spanish Grand Prix in Catalunya on April 27 or the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul two weeks later.

The first race that he may try to attend is expected to be in Monaco, where Mosley has a home, on May 25.

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