McQuaid Challenges Rival; IAAF Predicts Record Viewership

McQuaid Challenges Cookson’s Manifesto

UCI President Pat McQuaid says British challenger Brian Cookson’s election manifesto is "half baked, fundamentally flawed and financially impractical".

Among six pledges announced by the British Cycling president at a Paris press conference Monday are: to rebuild trust in the UCI; transform anti-doping in cycling; grow cycling across the globe; develop women’s cycling; overhaul elite road cycling; and strengthen cycling’s credibility and influence within the Olympic Movement.

"Just telling people what they want to hear is easy. He needs to explain how he is going to make it happen," McQuaid hit back Tuesday in a statement.

"He must also make a clear statement on whether he believes that cycling has changed, as many of today’s riders have said loudly and clearly. He must also clarify whether he believes cycling is leading the fight against doping, in order to reassure the cycling family that he is prepared to stand up for the sport against those who attack it."

According to McQuaid, Cookson must clarify how his plan for independent anti-doping procedures is anything new for cycling, how he stands on the subject of establishing a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and how the UCI will pay for the new international departments he proposes, among more than a dozen other questions posed by the Irish incumbent ahead of September’s election.

IAAF Predicts Massive Audience for World Champs

Essar Gabriel, secretary general of the International Association of Athletics Federations, says he believes the entire world will tune televisions to the Athletics World Championships in Moscow this year.

Gabriel made the comments recently in Moscow to Russian media.

Gabriel said 5 billion people watched the 2009 edition in Berlin. "This year this number can increase and reach 6-7 billion," he added, according to a post on the organizing committee's website. "The whole planet will be watching the performances of the best athletes."

"It is a distinctive feature of our sport that the medals are won by the athletes from about 40 countries," he said, explaining the sport’s appeal.

Gabriel added that an "enormous amount of work has been accomplished during the last months" to prepare Moscow for the event. "We are at the point when planning turns into real actions."

Competition runs Aug. 10 to 18 at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.

Mayor Warns of Protest Damage

The mayor of Istanbul said weeks of anti-government demonstrations could turn the city’s 2020 Olympic bid into a "distant dream."

Kadir Topbas urged protesters not to continue with the demonstrations, as the vote for a 2020 host city looms. "We have now entered the final stages of the 2020 Olympic [bidding]," Topbas was quoted by the Associated Press.

"If these (incidents) continue and there are problems, the 2020 Games will be nothing but a dream. The [Turkish nation] stands to lose, Istanbul stands to lose. We all know who will gain."

Protests began on May 31 and have spread throughout Turkey.

The IOC will select a host city Sept. 7 at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires. Madrid and Tokyo are the other bid cities.

Written by Nicole Bennett.

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