(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-04-07 13:12

LONDON: Triple world Formula One champion Jackie Stewart has called for FIA president Max Mosley to quit after the scandal that has focused attention on his private life.

"It is time Max Mosley did the honorable thing and resigned," 69-year-old Stewart told Sunday's News of the World.

"There is not an organisation in the world, be it a public corporation or the FA (Football Association) or the PGA, that would allow this to dribble on."

News of the World is being sued by Mosley for unlimited damages for publishing revelations last weekend about his involvement in a Nazi-style orgy with prostitutes. Mosley has said he was "the victim of a disgusting conspiracy".

The British tabloid, however, published further details about the scandal in its latest edition on Sunday.

"Does Max not realize that what he did was offensive to lots of people?" Stewart added. "The longer he stays then the more damage is being done.

"Under any normal circumstances Max should retire for the future of the sport and its good name.

"It's no longer a private matter. Had it not got into the public domain, I dare say Max could have continued as president of the FIA.

"But it's now untenable for that to happen, because he is president of a global federation that services different cultures, different religions and different morals in different parts of the world."

The Automobile Association of America (AAA), the largest motoring organization in the world with 51 million members in the United States, has also added to calls for the 67-year-old Briton to resign.