Cycling struggles to escape the shadow of politics

Sports governance is nobody’s favourite subject. If you’re reading this then you’re probably of the opinion that kicking, throwing, hitting, and indeed pedalling are all much more interesting than politic-ing.

I would much prefer to be writing a column about the Vuelta a Espana, where Chris Horner has claimed an impressive, if controversial, first grand tour title at the age of 41.

But this year’s Vuelta, the final three week race of the year, was contested under the cloud of the UCI presidential election, as British Cycling’s Brian Cookson challenges the incumbent Pat McQuaid for the top job in the cycling’s governing body.

On paper we should know the result of the election when the UCI congress meets during the World Championships in Florence in late September, but as is usually the case in cycling, things are never as simple as they may first appear.

Instead the presidential election could be decided in the courts, with the politics overshadowing the cycling, a situation that benefits no one.

So how have we got here? To cut a very long story as short as possible, we must go back to April.

Article 51.1 of the UCI constitution states that ‘candidates for the presidency shall be nominated by the federation of the candidate’, which should have been no problem for either Cookson or McQuaid with the support of British Cycling and Cycling Ireland respectively.

But McQuaid’s shambolic handling of the fallout from last autumn’s Lance Armstrong scandal caught up with him, and after his initial nomination was challenged on procedural grounds, the issue was passed to an EGM, where Ireland’s cyclists rejected the nomination.

While this could have been the end of the matter, you are unlikely to come across a man as fiercely pugnacious as Pat McQuaid.

A resident of Switzerland for a number of years, before the Irish EGM had even taken place McQuaid had secured membership of and nomination from the Swiss federation.

But once again this nomination was marred by procedural irregularities.

The chair of the Swiss board, Richard Chassot, announced the nomination on 13^th May, an announcement greeted with confusion by other board members, who were under the impression that they had pledged to support McQuaid, without going as far as nominating him.

Funded by Jaimie Fuller, chairman of the clothing company SKINS and ferocious opponent of McQuaid, three Swiss board members began legal proceedings against Swiss Cycling.

Now the saga takes an unexpected turn that could surely only happen in cycling.

With a bit of pushing from the UCI Director General Christophe Hubschmid, the Malaysian federation submitted a proposal for a constitutional amendment to be discussed at the UCI Congress that would mean that presidential candidates could be nominated by multiple federations from around the world.

In itself this is a welcome proposal that would encourage presidential candidates to promote a global agenda form the very start of their campaign.

I wouldn’t like to call the outcome of the election, but what I can predict is that if McQuaid emerges victorious, this will not be the end of the matter

Not so reasonable was the inclusion of a retroactive element that would mean it would apply to the current election.

And coincidentally, on the very same day as the announcement of the Malaysian amendment, the Thai and Moroccan federations nominated McQuaid.

Meanwhile news of McQuaid’s Thai and Moroccan nominations had filtered through to Switzerland where, with high legal fees looming, Swiss Cycling withdrew their nomination.

This is the current situation, but unfortunately it seems unlikely that the matter will be decided by the UCI Congress on 27^th September, but could instead drag on beyond the cycling off-season through the courts.

Assuming Pat McQuaid’s name is on the ballot paper, the election should be closely run.

While Cookson has the support of traditional cycling nations in Europe, as well as North America and Oceania, his Irish opponent has introduced globalisation to cycling, and should be rewarded with support from Asia, Africa, and South America.

I wouldn’t like to call the outcome of the election, but what I can predict is that if McQuaid emerges victorious, this will not be the end of the matter, with a number of holes in his nomination likely to be challenged.

Firstly, the rules state that nominations must arrive by letter, yet the Thai and Moroccan nominations were received by email.

Secondly, there is considerable doubt over whether McQuaid received these nominations before the deadline of 29^th June.

Finally, the Congress agenda should be finalised byUCI Management Committee, of which Cookson was a member. However, there was no meeting to discuss the agenda, meaning that the Malaysian proposal will be discussed without going through the correct channels.

We will therefore be faced with the prospect of court decisions overshadowing cycling, a situation which the sport is unfortunately familiar with.

Even if Cookson is elected, he is likely to find an organisation so hypnotised by McQuaid that it may not be able to implement the changes needed to move cycling forward, away from its drug-ridden past

The 2011 Tour de France was contested under the shadow of the court case of Alberto Contador, who was racing despite testing positive for the banned substance clenbuterol the previous year.

One of the best editions of the Tour in recent years, the superb eventual victory of Cadel Evans was tarnished by the presence of Contador and the court case that he would eventually lose.

But what if Brian Cookson emerges victorious? Unfortunately it looks as if cycling could still suffer.

Although Cookson’s manifesto is generally the more positively received, such is the McQuaid’s current dominance of the UCI that his influence may linger, preventing Cookson from implementing his vision for the future of cycling.

In theory the UCI as a body should be neutral in the presidential election, but instead it has been a vehicle for the McQuaid campaign, with UCI press releases condemning Cookson and UCI funds used to transport McQuaid to distance corners of Africa and Asia on lobbying missions.

So even if Cookson is elected, he is likely to find an organisation so hypnotised by McQuaid that it may not be able to implement the changes needed to move cycling forward, away from its drug-ridden past.

Either way, at least in the short term, this presidential election seems unlikely to benefit cycling.

Taking place at the same time as the world championship, it could overshadow what should be spectacular racing, while the saga could drag on into the 2014 season if legal wrangling ensues following a McQuaid victory.

And should we see a victory for the challenger, then Cookson is likely to find himself in charge of an organisation where an Irish ghost still walks the halls.