On-the-Scene -- Cookson Carries Farcical Day at UCI

(ATR) One of the longest and most fraught elections in the history of the International Cycling Union (UCI) came to an end on Friday when committee members elected Brian Cookson as their new president.

In Salone dei Cinquecento in Florence's stately Palazzo Vecchio, the same building where Niccolo Machiavelli worked, the UCI congress descended into farce before eventually voting for the head of British Cycling to succeed Pat McQuaid.

Speaking after his 24-18 win, Cookson said ,"It is a huge honor to have been elected president of the UCI by my peers and I would like to thank them for the trust they have placed in me today.

"The campaign to get to this point has been intense, but...the real work starts now. So I call on the global cycling community to unite and come together to help ensure that our great sport realizes its enormous potential. This is the vision that will drive and focus my activities over the next four years.

"I have said throughout my campaign that we must embrace a new style of governance and a collegiate way of working so that a new era of growth and commercial success for the UCI and our sport can begin."

The 62-year-old reiterated his campaign pledges, which were significant given the sport’s recent doping scandals, to make anti-doping procedures in cycling fully independent and "work with WADA to ensure a swift investigation into cycling’s doping culture."

"It is by doing these things that we will build a firm platform to restore the reputation of our international federation with sponsors, broadcasters, funding partners, host cities and the International Olympic Committee. Ultimately, this is how we grow our sport worldwide and get more riders and fans drawn into cycling," he added.

"Finally, while there have been some difficult moments between myself and my opponent Pat McQuaid during this election contest, I would like to thank Pat for the contribution he has made to cycling during his long career. I wish him well in whatever he goes on to do."

The last sentence came after McQuaid confirmed that he would step down from the UCI if he were not re-elected. In his election speech, McQuaid also chose to attack Cookson’s lack of Olympic knowledge and influence, saying "a vote for Brian will turn back the clock."

Farce

The result eventually came after a long and meandering session in the Tuscan city. The election even looked in doubt at one point after the ethics commission revealed that it had received evidence that a federation had been offered money to support Cookson.

It said, because of the timing of the allegations, it could not investigate it fully and so recommended delegates "think twice" before going ahead to vote in the election later.

But there was still the issue of whether McQuaid was actually eligible to stand for re-election, despite having the support of the federations from Thailand and Morocco. The Irishman’s candidacy was in question after he had his nomination withdrawn by both federations which could be considered his home, Ireland and Switzerland.

He needed to succeed in changing the rules to stand, and a vote on an amendment to article 51.1 of the UCI constitution suggested that other countries could nominate a candidate but also it included a clause that an incumbent president should automatically qualify to stand for re-election.

However, New Zealand’s Richard Legatt argued that "any constitutional amendments should be postponed until next year so management committee can take a good look at this and make a recommendation to congress."

After support from other federations and dissenting calls from others, the question of a postponement was put to a vote. The result was split 21 to 21, but that meant that changes to article 51.1 would not be discussed and voted on during the congress as the vote needed a majority to be accepted.

The result did not affect the election anyway as McQuaid’s nomination was upheld after a lengthy explanation from Swiss law experts that the Swiss Cycling Federation’s withdrawal of support was outside of the time frame allowed to do so.

Florence is hosting this year'sBut there was another twist as delegates argued over the validity of the nomination. One delegate labeled proceedings "a show" and "a masquerade" while another was impatient to exit the building and watch the day’s action in the Road World Championships.

However, Cookson stepped up said, "Friends, we’ve had enough of this. I propose we move straight to the votes of the two candidates."

The vote took little over half an hour, and Cookson was announced as the victor. Continuing what would now be his last UCI congress, McQuaid said, "Thank you Brian, and congratulations also to you."

Later, McQuaid issued a closing statement that said in part, "Brian has set out what he intends to achieve over the next four years and I will encourage all cycling federations to support his efforts to work for the love of the sport.

"I intend to stay working in the sport and to work in other areas. I am sure that our paths will cross again and when they do I look forward to greeting you as friends in sport."

Reported by Christian Radnedgein Florence

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