UCI President Pat McQuaid today announced that cycling?s governing body is to launch a wide-ranging consultation exercise involving all the stakeholders in the sport. The consultation will take place separately from the external Independent Commission, which is tasked with looking into the findings of the USADA report on the Lance Armstrong affair, as well as making recommendations that will enable the UCI to restore confidence in the sport of cycling. The consultation, which will be launched in the first quarter of 2013, will instead look to the future of the sport ? and discuss how to bring in lasting improvements to tackle issues of concern within cycling and work together to build a bright future. Pat McQuaid said: ?All stakeholders will be invited to participate in this consultation exercise, which will also look at measures to continue the process of globalising the sport, encourage even wider participation and ways to make the sport even more interesting for spectators. He continued: ?We must all work together to recover from the damage which the Armstrong affair has undoubtedly done to our sport, the sport we all love and cherish. ?While it is absolutely right that the Independent Commission investigates the past and makes recommendations for the future around the issues of doping, our sport is about so much more than that. ?We saw this year in the Olympic Games in London that cycling is one of the world?s most popular sports, both for participants and spectators, and it has a bright future. This is what the consultation exercise will focus on.? Further details of the consultation will be announced before the end of the year. The?UCI?also announced that it had invited John Coates, President of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS), to recommend the composition and membership of the Independent Commission. Cycling?s governing body decided at a Management Committee meeting on 26 October to establish a fully independent external Commission to look into the various issues and allegations contained in the USADA decision relating to the Armstrong affair. The Commission will comprise three members: the first and its chair will be a respected senior lawyer; the second will be a forensic accountant, who will be recommended by the chair; and, the third will be an experienced sports administrator. All three members will be independent of cycling. When appointed, the members of the Independent Commission alone will decide the final terms of reference of its wide ranging remit. The UCI has drawn up draft terms of reference which addresses the main issues raised by the USADA report into Lance Armstrong. Mr Coates has recommended a number of senior legal figures to be the potential chair of the Independent Commission, as well as providing names for the sports administrator member. The UCI has already begun contacting the people Mr Coates has nominated to establish their availability.? They will be announced as soon as the Commission is formally convened. The UCI has committed that the Commission?s final report and recommendations will be published no later than 1 June 2013. The President of ICAS was approached to recommend the composition and membership of the Independent Commission as the head of the institution supervising the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the world?s highest sports court, recognized as independent and impartial by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. UCI President, Pat McQuaid, said: ?We would like thank John Coates for his recommendations, which we will follow to the letter.? ?The purpose of this independent commission is to look into the findings of the USADA report and ultimately to make conclusions and recommendations that will enable the UCI to restore confidence in the sport of cycling and in the UCI as its governing body.? Mr. McQuaid continued: ?Cycling is one of the world?s most popular sports, both for participants and spectators and it has a bright future. Those who will define that future can be found among the current generation of riders who have chosen to prove that you can compete and win clean.?
