Formula 1's governing body kept its distance on Sunday from sexual allegations in a British tabloid newspaper about its president Max Mosley.
CANES AND PAIN: The News of the World video.
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"This is a matter between Mosley and the paper in question," an International Automobile Federation (FIA) spokesman said.
"We understand that Mosley's lawyers are in contact with that newspaper and the FIA has no comment."
The News of the World reported in a front-page story that FIA president Mosley, 67, had taken part in a "sado-masochistic orgy" with five prostitutes that reportedly involved Nazi role-playing.
It printed pictures of a man who appeared to be Mosley, bent naked and chained over a "torture" bench while being caned by a woman and said that the acts took place in an apartment near Mosley's London home on Friday.
Mosley is the son of the late Oswald Mosley, founder of the pre-war British Union of Fascists. He is married, has two sons and has been president of the FIA since 1993. - Reuters