UCI PRESIDENTIAL CHALLENGER Brian Cookson says the latest collapse in Pat McQuaid’s support leaves the Dubliner in “a very difficult position.”
The Swiss Cycling Federation withdrew its nomination for McQuaid yesterday rather than go through a costly legal hearing to establish its validity.
McQuaid had already suffered an embarrassing setback when Cycling Ireland members forced an EGM to pull its support, and his re-election bid now rests solely on a disputed joint nomination from the Thai and Moroccan federations.
“This latest development is of real significance to the Presidential election process,” Cookson, the President of British Cycling, said in a statement this morning.
“It leaves Mr McQuaid in a very difficult position, particularly when viewed alongside his failure to receive a nomination from his own national federation as required under the constitution of the UCI.
“It also places further question marks against his other ‘nominations’ whose validity is in serious doubt and remain a matter of genuine concern to many in the cycling world.
“No attempts at manipulation and legal bluster can take away the doubts and questions.
“The important principle in any democracy is that you must respect the rules as they are, not how you’d like them to be. My hope remains that we have a democratic process based on the rules of the race when it started rather than those made up half way through.
“For my part I remain focussed on setting out the policies and the vision that I believe is needed for the UCI and the sport of cycling to move forward. I am proud of the total support I have from my own federation, British Cycling, and the growing support I am receiving from the international cycling community as this election unfolds.”
