Jaimie Fuller (left) is funding the legal challenge to Pat McQuaid and says the Irish vote next weekend is now crucial. He is seen here with three--time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond at the Change Cycling Now conference in London (Photo: Gerry McManus - www.splitsecondimages.co.uk)
With just one week remaining until Cycling Ireland members decide whether the federation should nominate Pat McQuaid to run for a third term in office as president of the UCI, that meeting in Dublin may now take on much greater significance after it emerged Swiss Cycling’s nomination of the Irishman is being challenged in the courts.
The legal challenge to the Swiss nomination is being taken by the former Swiss national coach Kurt Buergi and the Skins clothing company.
They said in a statement last night that their planned legal challenge brought an additional importance and urgency to the Irish EGM due to be held in the Red Cow Inn off the M50 in west Dublin next Saturday.
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The statement says: "There has been a suggestion that the Swiss announcement rendered the Irish vote as meaningless but the members of Cycling Ireland should be in no doubt that their vote really does count. If Cycling Ireland's members vote against endorsement, this action could then finally close the door on the prospect of a further term of office for the current President.”
The Irish EGM was effectively side stepped by McQuaid when he decided he would seek a nomination from the Swiss to contest the election. His tactic meant the outcome of the Irish vote could not stop him from running as he no longer needed Ireland to nominate him.
However, if the challenge to the Swiss’s nomination is successful and the Cycling Ireland EGM next week votes against nominating McQuaid, he will not be able to run for election.
McQuaid is permitted to seek the nomination from Cycling Ireland because it’s his home federation. He is also able to seek a nomination from Swiss Cycling because he is resident in Switzerland.
But if he exhausts those two avenues he cannot go to any other federation and seek a nomination to contest the election in September. And without a nomination he cannot run.
The court action will likely not be concluded before Cycling Ireland’s EGM next Saturday. It means when delegates gather to vote, they know there is a good chance they have McQuaid’s future in their hands despite his efforts to avoid such a high risk scenario.
It emerged late last night that the legal challenge is in the offing.
It centres on the argument that Swiss Cycling’s nomination of McQuaid is not legally sound because he cannot be a member of both federations at the same time, and that because he sought the nomination from Cycling Ireland first, the Swiss cannot nominate him.
A statement released by Skins last night, apparently on behalf of itself and Buergi, said: “The Presidential election requires a candidate to be a member of an affiliated Federation, but SKINS and Kurt Buergi contest that Swiss Cycling was not constitutionally able to officially support Mr. McQuaid and that the endorsement is therefore null and void. As a confirmed member of Cycling Ireland, Mr. McQuaid has already sought endorsement from the Irish Federation and membership of two Federations is not permitted under the UCI constitution.”
The UCI has previously commented on McQuaid's apparent membership of two federations. In reply to queries from stickybottle.com on May 17th it said:
"There is a difference between being a member of a cycling federation and holding a license from a cycling federation. No UCI rule forbids an individual from being a member of more than one federation although a licence, which is required to participate in cycling events, can only be held from one federation."
"Pat McQuaid's honorary membership of Cycling Ireland includes a licence card. He is a full member of Swiss Cycling and has not applied for a licence from Swiss Cycling (or received one). No rule prevents Swiss Cycling from nominating Pat McQuaid because he is an honorary member of Cycling Ireland. (This would still be the case even if he were an ordinary member of Cycling Ireland which he is not.)
The legal challenge is also based on the legal argument that the meeting of Swiss Cycling’s board on May 13th, after which it was announced it had nominated McQuaid, did not involve a vote of the board being taken.
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“Consequently, a blatantly inaccurate interpretation of the meeting’s outcome resulted in a unilateral decision by the President of Swiss Cycling to announce the endorsement,” the Skins statement said.
Full statement by Kurt Buergi and the Skins clothing company.
7 June 2013
SKINS today announces that it is joining with Swiss Cycling Federation member, Kurt Buergi to instigate legal proceedings contesting the Federation's recent alleged endorsement of the President of the Union Cycliste Internationale, (UCI) Pat McQuaid for a further term of office.
The challenge is being mounted following the announcement made by Swiss Cycling after its meeting on 13th May, 2013, and will be presented on the basis that the endorsement was unconstitutional and made without proper authority.
The Presidential election requires a candidate to be a member of an affiliated Federation, but SKINS and Kurt Buergi contest that Swiss Cycling was not constitutionally able to officially support Mr. McQuaid and that the endorsement is therefore null and void. As a confirmed member of Cycling Ireland, Mr. McQuaid has already sought endorsement from the Irish Federation and membership of two Federations is not permitted under the UCI constitution.
Additionally, SKINS and Herr Buergi suggest that the meeting which resulted in the Swiss Cycling announcement was irregular because the alleged vote to endorse Mr McQuaid did not occur. Consequently, a blatantly inaccurate interpretation of the meeting’s outcome resulted in a unilateral decision by the President of Swiss Cycling to announce the endorsement.
If successful, the action will mean that the only opportunity for Mr. McQuaid to receive an endorsement to stand for re-election as President of the UCI, will come when members vote at Cycling Ireland's EGM in Dublin on June 15th.
SKINS Chairman, Jaimie Fuller said: "Kurt Buergi has strong reasons to contest the Swiss Federation's announcement and, as a sponsor of cycling we're delighted to support him. We have openly said we would partner with anyone who had a constitutional right to make a legal challenge and this action confirms that the EGM in Ireland next week, really matters."
"There has been a suggestion that the Swiss announcement rendered the Irish vote as meaningless but the members of Cycling Ireland should be in no doubt that their vote really does count. If Cycling Ireland's members vote against endorsement, this (legal) action could then finally close the door on the prospect of a further term of office for the current President.
“I have personally sought clarification of the Swiss Federation’s meeting in May from the members present, but, as is their right, they have refused to provide details. It will be a very different matter when under oath in a court of law.”
The statement added:
“Kurt Buergi is the Sporting Director of a Swiss National Development Team and a former Swiss national coach. He is also a staunch supporter and promoter of anti-doping. This was most poignantly illustrated by his part in a mass resignation of coaches during a national meeting in 1999 as they no longer trusted the Swiss Federation's commitment to the fight against doping.”
Fuller is involved in the Change Cycling Now campaign and has previously said he would financially back any legal bid to halt McQuaid’s nomination. He also believes the Swiss Cycling board on May 13th recognised McQuaid’s right to run for election but did not actually nominate him. And he believes the subsequent statement from the federation suggesting it had nominated the Irishman was a misrepresentation of what had taken place at the meeting.
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