The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) Management Committee has agreed a number of important decisions following a two-day meeting held in conjunction with the 2014 UCI Road World Championships in Ponferrada, Spain.
In order to further improve UCI’s anti-doping processes, the 14 member Management Committee proposed the establishment of an Anti-doping Tribunal to deal with cases involving international athletes, instead of these disciplinary proceedings being delegated to National Federations.
The tribunal would be made up of judges specialised in anti-doping, fully independent of the UCI, with the aim to provide all top level athletes with the same consistent process and a clear, short timetable. This should ensure consistency and uniform quality in the decisions, significantly reduce the number of cases that go to CAS on appeal and lift the operational burden from the National Federations.
After consultation with National Federations, the tribunal should be ready to start operating in 2015.
The UCI Management Committee also discussed a progress report from the CIRC which is on target to deliver its report at the beginning of 2015, within the budget allocated to it by the UCI.
The UCI Management Committee also awarded the following four UCI World Championships:
• 2016 UCI World Cycling Tour Final to Perth (Australia);
• 2017 UCI Road World Championships to Bergen (Norway);
• 2017 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships to Sanem (Luxembourg);
• 2017 UCI MTB Marathon World Championships to Singen (Germany).
The UCI Management Committee took this occasion to reflect on the organisation of the 2014 UCI Road World Championships in the city of Ponferrada. The delegates praised the work of the Local Organising Committee and all Spanish authorities in delivering what thus far has been a superb UCI Road World Championships.
The UCI Management Committee expressed satisfaction with the broadcast figures of the event with more than 32 media rights licensees covering it, providing TV access to fans in over 158 territories in Europe, North and South America, Africa, Middle East, Asia and Oceania. In fact, this is the highest number of media and broadcast territories the event has ever achieved.
All races are also available to watch via Live Stream (on selected territories) and followed by Live Blogging on www.uci.ch. Finally, the UCI Road World Championships Ponferrada 2014 is heavily present on social media through the hashtag #Ponferrada2014.
Following the Management Committee meeting, UCI President Brian Cookson, said: “The UCI Management Committee has today made important decisions that demonstrate the progress we are making across the board.
“I am delighted that we are taking cycling to even more people around the world. All these developments show the direction we are heading and, while there is still much to do, we are beginning to see the benefits of our efforts to restore trust in the UCI.”
The next UCI Management Committee meeting will take place in Tabor, Czech Republic, on the occasion of the 2015 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships.