British Cycling's Brian Cookson looks set to enter the race for UCI president. He is seen as a very credible candidate and may secure vital backing from Europe and the US when the election takes place in September.
By Shane Stokes
Previously unopposed by other candidates in his bid to take a third term as president, Pat McQuaid’s push for another stint as head of the UCI became more complicated today, Monday, with the news that a member of the UCI management committee is poised to declare his candidature.
According to various sources, British Cycling president Brian Cookson will confirm on Tuesday morning that he will put himself forward for the position. Today’s news comes twenty days before the deadline for applications and means that there will be at least two candidates for the role at the UCI elections in September.
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Cookson declined to comment when contacted by stickybottle today. A British Cycling spokesperson said that they could neither confirm nor deny suggestions that Cookson would run, but that more information would become available early on Tuesday.
British newspaper The Telegraph later reported that Cookson would indeed put his name forward.
The 61-year-old has a long history in the sport. After competing domestically at club level, he became a UCI international commissaire in 1986 and remained in that role until 2009, when he took up a place on the UCI’s management committee.
He has also been president of British Cycling since 1996 and one year later became a member of the Olympic Association National Olympic Committee.
Cookson has long been rumoured as one who could step forward as a candidate but stickybottle understands that he and others considering running for the presidential slot were worried about declaring an interest unless there was at least a reasonable chance of success.
Cookson’s decision to come forward means that he now believes it’s possible to beat McQuaid in the election, although the Irishman said today that he would fight on and that he believed he had secured good support.
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McQuaid’s image has been dented due to the fallout from the Lance Armstrong doping affair, with the UCI accepting donations from the Texan during his career and also vouching for Armstrong’s reputation in the past when he was accused of using banned substances.
The Irishman resisted calls for his resignation earlier this year when Armstrong finally confessed to extensive doping.
Needing to be nominated by a national federation, he initially received backing from Cycling Ireland’s board on April 12th. The one board member who opposed him, Anto Moran later realised that the correct protocol had not been followed at the meeting and raised the issue with CI.
As a result of that, its board met again to consider the matter. Rather than simply voting again, it accepted requests made by some of its members to hold an EGM on the matter. This will take place on June 15th in the Red Cow Inn in Dublin.
However rather than waiting for the clubs to democratically decide if CI should give its nomination to him, McQuaid sought to sidestep that by requesting nomination from the board of Swiss Cycling. He was also able to apply to that federation as he lives in that country.
On May 16th that federation announced that it would back him. Stickybottle understands that some board members were not happy with that announcement, feeling that it did not actually reflect what was agreed at the time.
They called for another board meeting, satisfying the requirement that a minimum of three members are needed to bring such an action about. That meeting was due to be held this evening but was ultimately cancelled after those three members were told that others would not attend. A minimum of five votes would have been needed to overturn what was announced on May 16th and, with the numbers not adding up, the meeting did not proceed.
It is unclear whether those concerned members will take any further action, but stickybottle understands that Australian businessman Jamie Fuller of the Change Cycling Now pressure group is exploring legal avenues to challenge Swiss Cycling’s apparent endorsement of McQuaid.
Whether or not that action takes place, the news that Cookson is now stepping forward means that McQuaid has a real battle ahead.
