UCI president Cookson presents Independent Committee
UCI president Brian Cookson (photo) reveals the three persons who will form the independent committee to look into recent allegations of the UCI. Photo: press image from briancookson.org
08.01.2014
By Play the GameIn a press release on the UCI website issued today, UCI president Brian Cookson informs about the changes so far initiated since he took over the post after Pat McQuaid.
One of the main points on the agenda has been the establishment of the independent committee, whose work will "be focussed on understanding what went so wrong in our sport and they will make recommendations for change so that as far as possible those mistakes are not repeated", says Cookson in the press release.
"In recognition of the scope of their task, and to emphasise that, as a sport, we need to gain a positive outcome from its work, it will be named the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC)."
As chairman of the CIRC, the UCI has appointed Swiss politician Dick Marty, who will be sided by two vice-chairmen, the German anti-doping expert Ulrich Hass and Australian Peter Nicholson, former military officer and a specialist in criminal investigations.
"The Independent Commission has already started preparatory work and will soon be given complete access to the files of the UCI and all the electronic data which was copied as soon as I was elected. It will also be seeking testimony from people involved in the sport or who have been involved in the past and we are in the final stages of discussions with WADA to agree how best to incentivise people to co-operate with the Independent Commission," Cookson added and underlined that the commission will operate ‘completely independently of the UCI’.