CHENNAI, SEPT 7: The Federation of Motor Sports Clubs of India (FMSCI) received a new lease of life as the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) decided against divesting it of the sporting power while setting in motion a compromise process between the country's governing body for motor sport and Nazir Hoosein, a FIA vice-president, who had expressed reservations over FMSCI's style of functioning.The World Motor Sport Council of the FIA met in Paris on Wednesday and decided that the FMSCI will continue to hold the Sporting Power which enables the federation to conduct events under its banner.In a manner of speaking, FIA's decision is a snub to Hoosein who has even formed an alternative body to the FMSCI, called the Motor Sports Association of India (MSA) while seeking transfer of Sporting Power from the FMSCI to the MSA.The FIA now has asked the two bodies to ``resolve the differences'' and work together for the good of motor sport in India. This could only mean a possible merger of the twobodies while a compromise of sorts is made.The differences between Hoosein, who enjoys considerable clout in FIA, and the FMSCI resulted in an ``investigation'' by the FIA which deputed Yvon Leon, its Foreign Affairs consultant, to India in late August. On his return home to Paris, Leon filed a report on his findings based on meetings with motor sports aficionados and also the FMSCI representatives.There was considerable speculation whether FMSCI would continue to enjoy FIA's confidence in the light of growing criticism over its style of functioning.Much as FMSCI sought to project an ``all well'' scenario, doubts persisted over the validity of some its claims.Another major complaint against the FMSCI was that it was not media-friendly, something that the federation president Shramik Masturlal conceded.For years now, the competitors and the sponsors have been complaining about the poor coverage of both National Championship rallies and track races. But precious little was done to set rightmatters until recently when some tentative efforts were made to shake hands with the media.According to a FMSCI press release here on Thursday, its chairman Vijay Mallya and its representative KD Madan spoke at the Council meeting in Paris while Hoosein put forth his case against the federation.The release added: ``Vijay Mallya said he was very pleased with the decision of the Council which had justifiably retained the FIA Sporting Power of the FMSCI. He also acknowledged the vast experience of Nazir Hoosein and pledged that he would get personally involved to resolve differences of opinion so that Hoosein could function as a part of the FMSCI.''
