mcquaidletter

  1 Pat McQuaid Email: pat.mcquaid@uci.ch
  To the President of the National Federations ______________________
  Sent by email only
  Aigle, 3 June 2013

  Dear President,

  I am writing to you regarding the upcoming election s for President of the UCI, as well as
  about a number of governance issues that worry me f or our sport.

  First, it is clear that a small group of activists has banded
  together to try, by whatever means, to hijack and derail my candidature in the coming e lection. Their agenda is narrow and
  negative. They have nothing positive or constructiv e to offer in discussions about cycling’s future. I am grateful to Swiss
  Cycling for their n omination, as well as to the Board of Cycling Ireland for their endorsement of my nomination whic h was only
  withdrawn for a procedural technicality.

  Second, over the past few weeks, I have received a number of veiled threats whose clear
  intention has been to try to force me to withdraw m y candidacy. You can be sure, however, that I will not be intimidated by
  people who have n o interest in transparent democracy, either now or in the future.

  I have now been informed by the President of
  British Cycling, Brian Cookson, that he plans to announce that he will stand against me in the Presi dency elections, a decision
  which will no doubt be welcomed by the activists and by those mak ing covert threats against me.

  While I would welcome any
  candidate to stand – the UCI will always be a democracy while I am in office – I must admit that I find Mr Cookson’ s decision to
  be an odd one for a number of different reasons.

  In January, just a few months ago, Mr Cookson wrote me a letter, and gave public
  interviews, in which he expressly committed that he would not s tand against me for President of the UCI. 2

  In an interview with
  Cycling News in January, Mr Cookson said: “ I'm 100% supportive of Pat McQuaid ... When you think what the UCI has don e in the
  last few years, pursuing offenders when other sports have let people off on the flimsiest of excuses. I think the UCI has got a
  good record in anti-doping that Pat can b e proud of. I know that's not a popular line, but it’s true."

  And in his letter to me,
  Mr Cookson said: “... a number of people (outside of UCI circles) have asked me if I would be interested in becoming UCI
  President ... My response has always been that I am supportive of you, that I do not think you should nor will be resigning, and
  that it is not on my personal agenda , nor am I seeking that office.

  “The last thing I want is for a bandwagon to start rolling
  with my name on it, and I have certainly not been going about promoting myself as your successor, nor would I do so. I think it
  is vital that we remain united and that I retain your trust. If you have any doubt, I will undertake to make clear what I have
  said to an yone who has asked - I will not challenge you for the position of UCI President.”

  Mr Cookson pledged that he would
  only stand if I de cided not to – and then only “to ensure the UCI did not lose its way after the great progre ss of the past few
  years. There are some people around with ambition (we could both name a c ouple), that would be a disaster for the UCI, and I
  won't see them take over unchallenge d, if there was such a situation.”

  I have been recently informed by a number of differ ent
  people that Wojciech Walkiewicz, a former UCI Management Committee member and Honorary President of the UEC, has invested some
  considerable time in recent weeks in organising meetings in cities across Europe to try to establish a candidate to run again st
  me for the UCI presidency.

  Mr Walkiewicz is notorious for manipulating electio ns. In 2006, the UCI Ethics Commission found Mr
  Walkiewicz guilty of breaching the UCI Cod e of Ethics for arranging for national federations to club together secretly to
  pre-determ ine the result of the 2005 UEC elections by fixing the list of election candidates. The result s of UEC elections in
  2009 and 2013 showed similar voting patterns, suggesting he was involved in very similar activities – and now Mr Walkiewicz
  appears to be trying to do the same for the UCI.

  Mr Walkiewicz is employed by UCI Management Committ ee member Igor Makarov. A
  number of other Management Committee members have t old me that they had been invited to Moscow but had refused. Mr Cookson,
  however, inform ed me recently that he was going to Moscow to meet with Mr Makarov and Mr Walkiewicz. I have subsequently had
  confirmation that at least one meeting took place, although perh aps in a different capital city. 3

  I believe that democracy is
  best served if the UCI Congress has a choice between different candidates. However, I am very concerned that democ racy is not
  served if underhand activities prompt individuals to run for presidency who otherwise might not have done so.

  Debates and
  discussions on ideas, programmes and me rits should always be welcomed. But, at least for those who worry about the UCI Code of
  Ethics, they should not be accompanied by any form of incentive that might constitute undu e influence.

  In this respect,
  therefore, I must also express my extreme concern about a donation of almost €1million made by Mr Makarov’s company, Itera, to t
  he UEC within weeks of the UEC elections. Given all of the accompanying activities , it is important to know what the true nature
  and purpose of this donation is – and I also spoke directly to Mr Cookson on this subject outlining my concerns. I am however
  also c onfident that UEC President Lappartient will look into this and that in any case the funds, if accepted, will be used for
  the development of cycling in Europe.

  I fear Mr Cookson may be a pawn in a larger game. Mr Makarov, owner of Katusha, has
  expressed his anger on a number of occasions that t he UCI Licence Commission denied his team a place in the 2013 WorldTour for
  “ethical rea sons”. The independence and impartiality of the Licence Commission is exactly t he sort of positive step forward
  that the UCI has taken in the past decade.

  Mr Cookson’s decision to announce his candidacy for the UCI President raises a number
  of important issues. Given all this, I think it is for Mr Cookson to explain his reasons for meeting Mr Makarov at the behest of
  Mr Walkiewicz. All thr ee men have strong ties to World Tour teams. In the interest of transparency, Mr Cookson must answer a
  number of questions and I intend writing to him to seek clarification of, amo ng others:
  • Does he condone Mr Walkiewicz’s activities?
  • What was the nature of his visit and discussions wi th Mr Makarov in Moscow?
  • Did he establish the facts
  concerning the €1m donat ion by Mr Makarov’s company Itera to UEC and does he continue to have c oncerns on this issue?
  • Does he
  share Mr Makarov’s anger over the decision of the UCI Licence Committee to refuse his Katusha team a World Tour L icence?
  • What
  assurances can he provide that the independenc e and impartiality of the UCI Licence Commission will not be compromised by t he
  interests of the Katusha and Team Sky World Tour teams, with whom he and Mr Makarov have conflicting interests, were he to become
  UCI Presid ent.
  • What assurances has he given Mr Walkiewicz and Mr M akarov in respect of the Presidency he will deliver.

  Judging from the many letters I have received urgin g me to stand, it is clear I have an enormous amount of support from the
  great majority of national federations and cycling officials all around the world to continue the work I am doing. 4

  In the
  coming weeks, I will outline my clear priori ties if I have the honour of being elected UCI President once again. My agenda will
  be global – and not just British, or Irish, or even Russian.

  I look forward to being judged by you, the global C ycling Family,
  for what I have objectively achieved for our sport over the past eight years, i n particular on my record of successfully
  developing the sport throughout the world, the phen omenal success of cycling at the Olympic Games, as well as ensuring that the
  UCI has remaine d at the forefront of the fight against the scourge of doping in sport. With best wishes, Pat McQuaid