CYCLING:It could take seven months for a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) committee to report back to the International Cycling Union (ICU) following a damning report from the United States Anti-Doping Association.
The International Cycling Union has invited John Coates, president of the CAS, to nominate a three-man independent commission to be set up in the wake of the Lance Armstrong scandal. However the report could take up until June of next year to conclude.
The UCI will also decide on the terms of reference to address the main issues raised by the USADA report.
The decision comes in the wake of Armstrong and his United States Postal Service team allegedly running “the most sophisticated, professional and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.
Armstrong was banned for life and all his results from August 1, 1998 were expunged, including his wins at the Tour de France from 1999 to 2005, a move the UCI ratified despite coming under fire themselves from a number of quarters.
Although they denied any wrongdoing, it was decided to commission an independent probe. Three-time Tour winner Greg LeMond is among those to call for a change of leadership, but president Pat McQuaid and his predecessor Hein Verbruggen, now honorary president, have stood firm.
The CAS commission will comprise three members from differing fields. The first, who will be the chair, will be a senior lawyer, the second a forensic accountant and the third will be an experienced sports administrator. All three will be independent of cycling.
According to the UCI, they have already contacted names recommended by Coates for the legal and sports administrator members of the commission, whose final report and recommendations will be published no later than June 1, 2013.
UCI president McQuaid, said: “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.”