Report into alleged UCI corruption released

After more than a year of interviews and investigations, Cycling’s Independent Reform Commision (CIRC) has released a 227–pages report that looks into the alleged corruption processes regarding the Lance Armstrong scandal and further assesses the governmental structures and anti-doping policies of the UCI.

The reform commission work was initiated in 2014 after Brian Cookson took over the post as president in the International Cycling Union after Pat McQuaid. Cookson vowed to uncover what had led cycling into its biggest crisis, which culminated in the dethronement of seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrongs because of his confessed doping.

While the report clears the former leadership of actual corruption, it presents several points of critique regarding failure to follow its own anti-doping policies, for having showed preferential treatment for Lance Armstrong and for colluding.

“It is clear from reading this report that in the past the UCI suffered severely from a lack of good governance with individuals taking crucial decisions alone, many of which undermined anti-doping efforts; put itself in an extraordinary position of proximity to certain riders; and wasted a lot of its time and resources in open conflict with organisations such as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)," says Brian Cookson in a UCI press release accompanying the release of the report.

"It is also clear that the UCI leadership interfered in operational decisions 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."

The CIRC report also lists several recommendations for how the organisation can be improved.