The International Cycling Union (UCI), former UCI president Hein Verbruggen and former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Dick Pound have agreed to settle out of court over comments made by Pound on anti-doping efforts by the UCI.
Verbruggen had taken exception to Pound’s comments, which he took as inferring that the UCI was not doing all that it could to combat doping in the sport.
A statement released by the UCI reads: “Richard Pound acknowledges the fact that some of his comments reported in the media might have seemed excessive if they were interpreted to mean that the UCI and Hein Verbruggen were doing nothing to combat doping. This applies to an even greater extent to the allegation of collusion, which was never formulated as such.
“Richard Pound regarded the work of the UCI as being insufficient, while the UCI and Hein Verbruggen perceived these criticisms as an attack on their integrity.
“Richard Pound acknowledges the fact that the UCI is doing good work to eliminate cheats from their sport. The UCI has successively put in place new testing procedures to improve the fight against doping. It declares that it will of course continue its efforts.”
The agreement between the three parties, and Pound’s new comments, mean that the litigation that Verbruggen and the UCI brought before the Vevey District Court in Switzerland will no longer be pursued.
“The parties hereby undertake to respect the spirit of this agreement when making any statements about the fight against doping in cycling,” says the statement. Neither party will be commenting further on this specific issue.