UCI president Brian Cookson announces Cycling Independent Reform Commission

Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) president Brian Cookson has announced the appointment of three members of a newly-formed Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC), which will 'investigate the problems cycling has faced in recent years'.

The CIRC will be funded by the UCI but will be independent from it in all other respects, and its formation was part of Cookson's pre-election manifesto.

"I am delighted to announce that we now have the three-member Independent Commission which I promised in my Manifesto," said Cookson in a statement on Wednesday (January 8).

"This Commission will investigate the problems cycling has faced in recent years, especially the allegations that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past - allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport.

"Their work will also be focused on understanding what went so wrong in our sport and they will make recommendations for change so that as far as possible those mistakes are not repeated."

Swiss politician and former state prosecutor Dick Marty will act as chairman of the CIRC, with anti-doping specialist Ulrich Haas and criminal investigator Peter Nicholson as vice-chairmen. Project director Aurélie Merle has also been appointed to assist with their work.

"The Independent Commission has already started preparatory work and will soon be given complete access to the files of the UCI and all the electronic data which was copied as soon as I was elected. It will also be seeking testimony from people involved in the sport or who have been involved in the past and we are in the final stages of discussions with WADA [World Anti-Doping Agency] to agree how best to incentivise people to co-operate with the Independent Commission," said Cookson.

"We have agreed a budget for the Commission, which the UCI will cover in full, and we have also expressed our wish that its work be concluded this year. Other than that, the Independent Commission based in Lausanne will operate completely independently of the UCI and will organise its work as it chooses. The Commission's terms of reference will explicitly state that the Commission will act autonomously and that its members will not receive any instruction from the UCI."

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