Tonight’s vote by Cycling Ireland on Pat McQuaid could dictate who is the next president of the UCI
By Shane Stokes
Current UCI president Pat McQuaid will this evening appear before the board of Cycling Ireland at its meeting at the Clarion Hotel near Dublin Airport, speaking to the members prior to a vote that could be crucial for his future.
The Irishman is aiming to run for his third four-year term as UCI president, but requires the nomination of Cycling Ireland’s board.
The board members are understood to be divided on the issue, with some having reservations after the Lance Armstrong doping affair and other matters.
Some are seeking change at the top, believing the sport needs a fresh start. Others on the board favour backing McQuaid for another term.
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The board features seven voting members, with an eighth, CI’s president Rory Wyley, only set to vote if there is a tie.
The board can either accept or refuse the request, or could opt to call an EGM and let the member clubs decide if McQuaid should receive the endorsement.
A call for an EGM was made at Cycling Ireland’s AGM last November when Dr Conor McGrane, who is Cycling Ireland’s doctor but was speaking independently of that role as a member of the Swords cycling club, spoke out on the matter.
“I strongly think we need a change at the top of the UCI. It is not a personal vendetta against Pat McQuaid, it is more an expression of dissatisfaction with the way the UCI has dealt with the whole doping issue over the past twenty years,” he said at the time.
“My dissatisfaction as a doctor is the health risks that riders are being put under due to the lack of the containing and control over doping, and the effective legalisation with the haematocrit rule in the 90s,” he said.
He also referred to the UCI’s acceptance of money from Lance Armstrong plus the waiving of the strict six-month out of competition rule when he returned in 2009 as other examples of concern.
McGrane wanted members to discuss McQuaid’s presidency and to communicate their feelings on the matter to Cycling Ireland. However the discussion at the AGM was only an informal one as the motion was not lodged sufficiently far in advance of the AGM.
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McGrane proposed an EGM instead, and while that has not yet happened, it is possible that the board will decide on that course of action this evening.
Some in the sport have suggested this may be the most democratic way for Cycling Ireland to make a decision about whether or not McQuaid should be backed. As it represents its members, this course of action would enable the federation to be steered by the clubs on the matter.
In the meantime, it has received a considerable number of emails on the subject, with people contacting the board members with their thoughts.
The board has been tight-lipped on the matter, with none of its members making a public comment in the run-up to tonight’s vote. However honorary secretary Jack Watson underlined his support two weeks ago in an interview with the British Independent on Sunday newspaper, saying that McQuaid’s work on globalisation deserved credit.
“It [the sport] is booming in Ireland, in Britain, in Asia, in South Africa, and that is in no small measure down to Pat McQuaid. He has done an awful lot of good,” stated Watson.
Stickybottle understands that the vote could go either way this evening. The board meeting will begin at 5pm and run for approximately two hours, dealing with other business, then McQuaid will speak to the board and present his case for its nomination.
He previously met some of the board members individually and faced questions from them.
Jaimie Fuller, who is part of the Change Cycling Now pressure group, told stickybottle that he made unofficial approaches to Cycling Ireland to see if the board would consider hearing a submission from himself or another who feels it is time for a change in the UCI.
He argued that if McQuaid is making a pitch for the board’s vote that the opposite viewpoint should be presented in order to ensure balance.
Stickybottle understands that this will not take place. However two Cycling Ireland representatives said last month that they were confident that the board can make a balanced and informed decision on the matter, with members set to pose a number of questions to McQuaid.
If the federation agrees to nominate him, he will go forward to the UCI elections in September aiming to secure his third term there. If the board decides otherwise, the Irishman is able to request nomination from the Swiss cycling federation, as he lives in that country. It is not yet clear how the Swiss federation would respond.
However needing to go that route would be an embarrassment to McQuaid, who is hoping to secure nomination this evening.
Thus far no other candidates have stated that they will run against him in the UCI’s elections. Stickybottle understands that several are considering doing so, however, and will step forward and declare their candidature if a green light is not given this evening.
It is understood that their reluctance to do so before now is due to their concerns that McQuaid has been working for several months to secure support, and that the UCI’s current voting structure makes it difficult for challengers to secure change at the top.
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