Pat McQuaid is under pressure but seems resolute in his determination to contest the UCI presidential election in just over two weeks time.
UCI president Pat McQuaid has strongly denied serious allegations of corruption made against him in a document given anonymously to Velo News in the US.
However, his rival in the election to be UCI president for the next four years, Brian Cookson said he wants the allegations probed.
"These allegations, which appear to be similar to those made to the UCI management committee in June, are clearly very serious,” Cookson said in a statement.
“For the good of the UCI and cycling, they should be immediately and thoroughly investigated by the relevant authorities. I hope that this matter can be fully resolved before the UCI congress on 27 September."
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"For my part, I remain totally committed to a democratic election under the constitution of the UCI and will continue to talk and listen to national federations and voting delegates on how, together, we can grow cycling globally and restore faith and trust in our sport.”
McQuaid learned in the early hours of Monday morning that the document had been leaked. It appears to be a summary of the report prepared for the UCI management committee earlier in the year.
He sent out a pre-emptive statement saying: “The claims in this so-called dossier are a complete fabrication. They are totally untrue and are not supported by a scintilla of evidence.”
“This is a scurrilous and libellous attack on my character, with a political agenda that is both nakedly transparent and totally contemptible - and unfortunately one that is completely in character with the tactics of my opponents.”
Velo News published a story outlining the claims and some other cycling websites did follow ups.
However, because the origins of the document and the agenda of the leaker were both unknown, and because proving the allegations would be impossible in a short frame of time, many websites including stickybottle have not outlined the detail of the allegations.
The mainstream news media in Ireland - which has followed the UCI election closely - has also stayed away from printing or broadcasting the detailed allegations, apparently because question marks remain over the information. However, some Sunday newspapers will likely revisit the matter.
McQuaid has been stout in his defence of his record and character, suggesting the UCI had sought a copy of the initial document to investigate, but the material was not made available t it.
After Velo News published the material, McQuaid issued a letter he said he had sent to all of the national federations around the world. It reads:
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Dear Federation Presidents,
Yesterday evening, a libellous “dossier”, alleging corruption at the UCI, was anonymously leaked to the media. The media organisation presented the document to me. The claims in this so-called dossier are a complete fabrication. They are totally untrue and are not supported by a scintilla of evidence.
This is a scurrilous and libellous attack on my character, with a political agenda that is both nakedly transparent and totally contemptible – and unfortunately one that is completely in character with the tactics of my opponents.
The UCI Ethics Commission has already tried to investigate this dossier, which was compiled by Management Committee members Igor Makarov and Mike Plant. The Ethics Commission asked Mr Makarov and Mr Plant to hand over a copy of their dossier, but both of them have refused. That fact alone speaks volumes.
Given that Mr Makarov and Mr Plant are the only two people to have this document, it is clear that this ”anonymous” leak can only have come from one of them. Both of them have trumpeted their support for Brian Cookson in this Presidential election. That is entirely their prerogative, but this sort of despicable behaviour is not.
So far in this presidential election campaign, my opponents have employed lies, bribery, attempted extortion, attempted vote-buying, attempts at entrapment with hidden cameras and microphones, commercial interests threatening to bankrupt national federations if they didn’t withdraw my nomination and legal chicaneries to try to prevent you from even being given the chance to vote for or against me. This is not democracy. This is gangster politics.
If Brian Cookson does not now condemn these tactics utterly, then we can only assume that he supports them – and we will all have a graphic preview of how the UCI will be run for the coming four years under his leadership and with his henchmen.
This behaviour on the part of three Management Committee members – as well as this libellous dossier – is doing untold damage to the reputation of the UCI, something that Brian Cookson has claimed he apparently wants to restore.
I am proud to stand before you as a candidate in this election. I am proud to present you with a clear choice of leadership for the coming four years. I will be prouder still if you choose me as your next President at Congress this month. But if you do not, I will accept your choice with good grace and I will leave Florence with my head held high. I will know that I have given my all to the UCI over the past eight years and that I have done everything possible to protect our democratic process.
I challenge Brian Cookson to say the same thing.
Yours sincerely,
Pat McQuaid
The Irishman and Cookson are due to go head-to-head in a vote for the presidency at the UCI congress on the occasion of the World Road Cycling Championships in Florence in a couple of weeks.
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