The UCI publishes Cycling Independent Reform Commission report

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) has today published the report and recommendations of theCycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC). The CIRC’s Terms of Reference were to investigate"the causes of the pattern of doping that developed within cycling and allegations which implicate theUCI and other governing bodies and officials over ineffective investigation of such practices". A copyof the 227 page CIRC report is attached.

The CIRC was established by the UCI in January 2014 and has since completed a rigorous 13 monthinvestigation wholly independent from the UCI. The CIRC was chaired by Dr. Dick Marty, a formerSwiss State Prosecutor, supported by two Vice-Chairs - Prof. Ulrich Haas, an expert in anti-dopingrules and procedures and Mr. Peter Nicholson, a former military officer who specialises in criminalinvestigations.

During its investigation, the CIRC undertook 174 face-to-face interviews, some of which lasted forseveral days and took place in different locations across the world. Those interviewed included UCIpersonnel, teams, federations, medical practitioners, riders/former riders, anti-doping organisations,national law enforcement agencies, sponsors, event organisers and journalists. A full list ofinterviewees who have agreed for their names to be disclosed is present on page 224 of the report.

Commenting on the CIRC report and its recommendations, UCI President Brian Cookson said:

"I would like to thank Dick Marty, Ulrich Haas, Peter Nicholson and CIRC’s staff for all their extensivework in producing such a comprehensive and rigorous investigation. Very few, if any sports, haveopened themselves up to this level of independent scrutiny and while the CIRC report on the past ishard to read for those of us who love our sport, I do believe that cycling will emerge better andstronger from it. I made a promise before I was elected that I would ensure as a priority that under mypresidency a respected and fully independent commission would investigate the UCI’s past and I ampleased to have delivered on that promise, on time and on budget. We gave the CIRC access to allour files, a complete copy of all the electronic data which existed when I was elected and full cooperationfrom all our staff. I said from the outset that the UCI would publish the CIRC’s report andrecommendations to ensure transparency and that is exactly what we have done today.

"It is clear from reading this report that in the past the UCI suffered severely from a lack of goodgovernance with individuals taking crucial decisions alone, many of which undermined anti-dopingefforts; put itself in an extraordinary position of proximity to certain riders; and wasted a lot of its timeand resources in open conflict with organisations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) andthe US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). It is also clear that the UCI leadership interfered in operationaldecisions on anti-doping matters and these factors, as well as many more covered in the report,served to erode confidence in the UCI and the sport.

"Since I became President in September 2013, the UCI has not only completed this unprecedentedexercise of openness and transparency, it has also:

Commissioned a full audit of its anti-doping operations by the Institute of National Anti-DopingOrganisations (iNADO) and implemented their recommendations;

Established a strict internal governance process to ensure that the President or administrationcannot interfere in operational anti-doping matters and that there is external oversight of allkey decisions plus an audit trail of results management;

Ensured the complete independence of the Cycling Anti-Doping Foundation (CADF) to planand execute anti-doping tests on behalf of the UCI;

Ended the conflicts with key stakeholders and established a much stronger workingrelationship with WADA, USADA and other NADOs whose support and cooperation isessential for us to be effective in our anti-doping efforts;

Established an Anti-Doping Tribunal that will allow consistent, clear and fast decisions oncases for international riders, putting the UCI in line with almost all other internationalfederations and ending the process whereby cases were referred to the rider’s nationalfederation for judgement;

Worked with the professional teams and independent experts to establish clear new internaloperational requirements for teams (the "cahier des charges") to ensure that all riders areproperly supported and supervised and that the right structures are in place to prevent ridersdoping;

Actively established an unprecedented number of intelligence and information sharingagreements with National Anti-Doping Agencies;

Introduced new Anti-Doping Rules with longer sanctions (4 rather than 2 year standard ban)and stricter obligations in line with the new WADA Code and put in place a new regulatoryframework (the "Testing and Investigation Regulations") which further promotes effective andqualitative testing and investigation;

Introduced innovative and far reaching sanctions on teams with riders who are found to havedoped (suspension from competition plus a fine of 5% of the team budget);

Invested more than ever in staffing and resources allocated to anti-doping;

Launched a process of revising and updating the UCI Constitution in order to improve thegood governance and transparency of the UCI at all levels, especially with regards to the UCIPresidential election;

Established important new governance measures including a newly reinvigorated EthicsCommission, a Remuneration Committee to set senior remuneration and delivered on thecommitment to provide more transparency on financial matters.

"I am absolutely determined to use the CIRC’s report to ensure that cycling continues the process offully regaining the trust of fans, broadcasters and all the riders that compete clean. I committed to thisprocess before I was elected President and I'm pleased to see the CIRC complete its work. I shall begiving some more detail on how we will implement recommendations from the report during the courseof this week.

"Lastly, I would like to thank WADA whose support was essential in establishing the CIRC and also allthe NADOs, in particular USADA, who have contributed to the strengthening of anti-doping in cycling."

For more information, please contact:

Louis Chenaille

UCI Press Officer

+41 79 198 70 47

louis.chenaille@uci.ch

John Zerafa

VERO Communications

+44 7813 814 816

jzerafa@verocom.co.uk

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