“I am hoping that a decision will be handed down before the UCI Congress in September”
Following earlier indications that three members of the board of Swiss Cycling were in disagreement with Swiss Cycling over its claim of unanimous support for Pat McQuaid, that federation has confirmed that an appeal has been received over the matter.
Swiss Cycling spokesperson Selina Küpfer told AFP that the action had been taken. “We received a complaint Tuesday. It emanates from three members of Swiss Cycling,” she said.
The trio have been named in a press release issued by the Skins clothing company, whose chairman Jaimie Fuller is a founding member of the Change Cycling Now pressure group. It called last December for McQuaid to step down, and is backing the action taken by the trio.
Former Swiss national coach Kurt Buergi has been joined by former Swiss Cycling board member Mattia Galli, and the ex-pro Patrick Calcagni as co-claimants.
Buergi has appointed an arbitrator and under the rules of Swiss Cycling Arbitration proceedings, the federation will now have to appoint its own arbitrator. Those two will then jointly appoint a president of the arbitration board. This trio will then receive written submissions and hold a hearing, and Buergi is hoping for a ruling prior to the presidential election.
Quest for nomination:
McQuaid, who was voted UCI President in 2005 and again in 2009, needs the nomination of a federation in order to be able to go forward to September’s election.
He originally sought nomination from the board of Cycling Ireland. On April 12th it voted 5-1 to agree to McQuaid’s request for nomination, with Anto Moran the sole dissenting voice. However this backing was deemed invalid after the board did not follow the correct protocol during that meeting.
While CI could simply have voted again, it bowed to pressure and instead announced that it would hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on June 15th, this Saturday, where its members would determine if CI should back him or not.
However rather than waiting for that to happen, McQuaid then switched to plan B and requested nomination from Swiss Cycling, the federation running cycling in the country he is resident in.
The legal action pertains to that, and follows suggestions that several of the board members had not actually endorsed McQuaid, as had been claimed by the Swiss Cycling announcement at the time.
Those taking the legal action are hoping to get clarity on the matter. “Mr. Buergi has indicated that all of the Swiss Cycling Board members and Pat McQuaid have been named as witnesses for the hearing in an attempt to clarify the authenticity of the endorsement, and what reasons were communicated by the Board to decide to present Mr. McQuaid as its candidate for the position of President of the UCI,” said Skins in its release.
According to Buergi, his hope is that clarification of the subject will be obtained prior to the UCI presidential election.
“Once the arbitration is in motion, the procedure is confidential but I am hoping that a decision will be handed down before the UCI Congress in September,” he explained. “If the decision is not finalised prior to the Congress and Pat McQuaid is elected as President for a further four year term, that Presidency will be under serious doubt and will have to be annulled when we are successful in the action.”
Fuller warns that those testifying will have to speak truthfully. “It is time for Pat McQuaid and Richard Chassot to be accountable in a legal proceeding for their actions and dealings,” he said. “The witnesses will be interrogated and required to tell the truth. Each will be made aware that under Swiss law there are severe criminal sanctions for providing false testimony.”