The only board member of Cycling Ireland to vote against Pat McQuaid's nomination to fight another UCI election, Anto Moran reacts to accusations of begrudgery.
By Shane Stokes
Responding to claims by former UCI president Pat McQuaid that Irish begrudgery was the reason why he lost the Cycling Ireland nomination for the 2013 elections, Anto Moran has categorically denied this was any part of his motivation in declining his backing.
Moran was Cycling Ireland vice-president and a board member in the run up to the election.
In April 2013 the board held a vote to decide if it would nominate McQuaid to enable him contest the UCI election for a third term.
There was some debate beforehand due to a number of factors, including the Lance Armstrong-US Postal Service affair.
McQuaid met the board to reassure those with concerns; working to convince several undecided members that he should be backed.
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Moran was ultimately the sole board member who opted not to back McQuaid, and resigned his position days later.
However, he quickly realised Cycling Ireland had not followed the correct protocol in the decisive board meeting. As a result, the vote was scrapped.
Rather than simply retaking the vote – as the federation could have done – it decided to call an extraordinary general meeting and put it to the members to decide.
They ultimately opted not to do so, voting 91-74 against backing him.
McQuaid secured backing elsewhere but went on to lose the UCI presidential election to Brian Cookson.
In an article published in recent days on stickybottle, McQuaid questioned the motives of those who opposed him.
He said that they had employed “a lot of shit and underhand tactics”.
He also suggested that his success in world cycling may have been a factor.
“I’ve always known about Irish begrudgery and the family have as well,” he said.
“The amount of work we did, not just me but other members of my family; the amount of work we’ve done going back over the years, my father and my uncle included, to promote and develop Irish cycling is enormous.
“And what galls me is a lot of the people who were so critical are people who have never as much as stood on the corner with a red flag on a Tuesday night for a club race.”
Pat McQuaid did not need Irish backing to fight the UCI election, but his inability to secure the support of his home federation was damaging and embarrassing and something he would not recover from.
"I know what I have given cycling over the years"
While McQuaid didn’t specify those he was referring to, his claims cast aspersions over all of those in Ireland who had felt that change was needed.
As Moran had been one of the most prominent in calling for change, stickybottle contacted him for his response.
While he emphasised that he didn’t want to be critical of McQuaid nor to be seen “kicking a man when he was down,” he said that he wanted to make his reasons clear.
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“There was no begrudgery in any shape or form,” he said, admitting he was disappointed by the claims.
“I know what I have given cycling over the years, and also Conor [McGrane, the Cycling Ireland doctor] as well.
“My motivation was the love of the sport, that is all.”
Moran said in the past that the USADA report into the Lance Armstrong-US Postal Service scandal was shocking to him and prompted his feeling that a new president was needed.
“I remember when I read the Reasoned Decision, [I thought] that was devastating. Every single thing that you ever believed in the sport was just wiped out, even though I knew there was some doping there.
“As I have said before, my only reason [not to give his vote] was somebody had to be accountable. That was it. Pat was unfortunately the head of the UCI. Had it been Cookson at the time, I would have done the exact same thing.”
"There was never anything personal"
Prior to the conclusion of USADA’s investigation, its decision to impose a lifetime ban on Armstrong and others and the release of the Reasoned Decision, the UCI had made efforts to take over that enquiry.
Given that several within the organisation had been accused of protecting Armstrong and others over the years, this development was seen as worrying by some and was ultimately unsuccessful.
When USADA’s report was finally released, McQuaid pledged that an Independent Commission would be set up and would be allowed to fully investigate the claims of UCI collusion.
However that commission was abandoned less than three months later.
The governing body blamed the costs of the procedure and also faulted WADA and USADA for not cooperating fully; the latter two bodies said that they were concerned by what they saw as too-limited terms of reference plus the lack of an amnesty for those who came forward.
The UCI said another such enquiry would be run at a later point.
However it soon became apparent that this would only take place after the presidential election, meaning the claims of possible collusion would not be investigated before the vote.
Moran said that dropping of the Independent Commission “was a huge factor” for him.
“There were a couple of things,” he said in reference to his decision not to back McQuaid.
“One was the UCI trying to gain control of the whole process of the Reasoned Decision. That to me was mind-blowingly bad; that they wanted to do that.
“Then the fact that we were six months down the road and there wasn’t a sniff of a [new] Independent Commission. I mean, come on.
“They were the only reasons. There was never anything personal. I have met some of the McQuaid’s since and it has been grand.”
Moran stressed again that his reason for speaking now was simply to make his reasons absolutely clear after the claims about people’s motivations had been made.
“There wasn’t any begrudgery on my behalf,” he underlined. “None at all.”
He added that he didn’t plan to comment again on matters relating to the presidential election in the future.
“As far as I am concerned now, this is history and this chapter is completely closed.”
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