A former Cycling Ireland board member who resigned over its decision to back Pat McQuaid for a third term as president of the UCI, has said the sport could be 'lost' if he suceeds in re-election.
Anthony Moran was eventually vindicated when Cycling Ireland reconsidered its nomination, but McQuaid sidestepped the problem by asking Swiss Cycling for their support instead.
Under UCI rules, a person can be nominated as president not only by their own national federation, but also that of their country of residence – in McQuaid’s case, Switzerland, where the UCI is based.
McQuaid remains the only declared candidate for the presidency despite wide-spread criticism of his stewardship during the Lance Armstrong scandal.
"I think USADA and WADA politicised it [the Lance Armstrong USADA report which was critical of McQuaid] for the good of the sport," Moran told the Independent.
"If nobody stands the cycling world is sending a message which is very damaging for the sport. We have had scandal after scandal and after [the USADA report] still nobody can step up and give assurances that they will move it forward on all levels. If nobody stands against him cycling is lost."
When McQuaid applied to Swiss Cycling for their backing, he accused the Irish process of being "politicised by a small group of people."
That “small group of people,” as McQuaid put it, appears to include a sizeable proportion of the rank and file members of Cycling Ireland.
14 thoughts on “‘Our sport will be lost if Pat McQuaid is re-elected,’ says former Cycling Ireland board member”
Anto Moran for UCI president!
Anto Moran for UCI president! 😛
kitkat wrote:Anto Moran for
+1
i’ll do it!
i’ll do it!
Hopefully other nations take
Hopefully other nations take up on idea of limiting presedency to two terms. And by doing so eliminating the problem 😀
In the worset case we end up with a leadership history like in one country: http://innercitymobility.blogspot.de/2013/04/editiorial-break-paddy-mcquaid.html
Verbruggen, followed by his “political son” Paddy, to be followed by ?
For the younger readers who
For the younger readers who may not know McQuaid’s history: Pat McQuaid was banned from the Olympics in 1976 after being caught racing in South Africa, in contravention of the anti-apartheid sporting boycott. He and Sean Kelly had entered the race using false names. I remember the newspaper articles at the time, and their excuses, in reality the pair of them did it for the money. Forget the drug stuff for this alone Mcquaid has no place in cycling.
PaulVWatts wrote:For the
In that case, does the same apply to Kelly? This is not why McQuaid doesn’t deserve to run cycling – the reason he should be out on his ear is because of repeated failures in governance during his tenure.
After trying to avoid having to win the vote in Ireland by getting the Swiss nomination, it looks like McQuaid might have to face the vote after all – Inrng saying that McQuaid holds a lifetime licence in Ireland and therefore can’t hold a Swiss licence (which would be a necessity for him to get a Swiss nomination). Could start to get interesting.
Yes the same applies to
Yes the same applies to Kelly. Kelly was banned from the Olympics for life. But McQuaid ended up on the IOC hows that for a joke. My point was that for what McQuaid did in South Africa he should have been banned from the post in the first place. That he wasn’t shows the inherent corruption within the UCI. McQuaid is a symptom of the problem not the problem. Sort out the UCI and its governance and people like McQuaid and Verbruggen would have no chance of a place within the UCI in the first place
And also that McQuaid is a
And also that McQuaid is a liar (racing under a false name) and a man of low morals (racing in apartheid S.A)
step-hent wrote:PaulVWatts
The UCI (AKA Pat McQuaid) say there is no problem with Pat’s Swiss nomination, as he is a member of the Swiss Cycling Federation, and that his honorary licence has no bearing.
The really disturbing thing
The really disturbing thing is that none of the National Organisations seem willing to rock the (sinking) boat by putting forward an opponent. Cycling Ireland only called their EGM after the one Board member with any integrity resigned (chapeau Anto), and the rank and file membership went apeshit.
If McQuaid’s top priority was
If McQuaid’s top priority was the integrity of cycling and the integrity of the UCI he’d have left a long time ago. He has a death-grip on the presidency for one reason alone; maintaining his current life-style and income. Nothing else.
If Pat remains President I
If Pat remains President I vow to boycott watching any UCI sanctioned event or purchasing any product with a UCI sticker on it until he is removed.
Let’s all do the same and then maybe he’ll be forced out by the teams and race organisers who can’t get any advertising revenues.
Better the devil you know.
Better the devil you know. Who’d stand against him that was honest? I they are not as compromised as him they know that if they lose their federation will get overlooked for a generation. It’s just not worth the risk for the honest to stand.
edit missed word,
If McQuaid stays in office,
If McQuaid stays in office, more sponsors will go the way of Rabobank. Talk about irony. Under Pat’s Presidency, Cycling is seen as so dirty that sponsoring it can drag down the reputation of Bankers!