D E C I S I O N. of 19 October in the following case: Request for the withdrawal of the licence of the Astana UCI WorldTeam

Transcription

1 COMMISSION DES LICENCES LICENCE COMMISSION D E C I S I O N of 19 October 2015 in the following case: Request for the withdrawal of the licence of the Astana UCI WorldTeam The Licence Commission In view of: - the UCI's request for the withdrawal of the licence awarded to the Astana UCI WorldTeam; - the response by the Astana UCI WorldTeam which called for the request to be rejected; - the hearings of 2 and 23 April 2015 to which the parties, as well as the Institute of Sports Science of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL), made contributions; - the decision to suspend proceedings on 23 April 2015; Recalling In fact: A. On 26 February 2015, the UCI submitted a request to the Commission seeking the withdrawal of the Team's UCI WorldTour licence. B. In its response of 20 March 2015, the Team called for this request to be rejected. C. The parties, who reiterated their conclusions, as well as ISSUL representatives, were heard on 2 April D. On 23 April 2015, the Commission again heard the parties, as well as ISSUL, with a view to determining the next step of the proceedings. E. In its decision of 23 April 2015, the Commission ruled: 1. That it duly noted that the Team was committed to conforming to the measures recommended by the Institute of Sports Science of the University of Lausanne

2 (ISSUL) and that this commitment had been formalised in a document signed by the Astana UCI WorldTeam, ISSUL and the Licence Commission. 2. That the respect of this commitment was subject to checks by ISSUL under the supervision of the Commission. 3. That the procedure for the withdrawal of the licence from the Astana UCI WorldTeam had been suspended. Consequently, the registration of the Astana UCI WorldTeam for 2015 remained in place. 4. In the event of a failure to respect the terms of the agreement, ISSUL would inform the Commission which could at any time reopen the proceedings for the withdrawal of the licence. 5. Proceedings would also reopen if there were any new cases of doping or other serious infringements of the regulations. 6. In application of this agreement, the Licence Commission met with the attendance of the Astana UCI WorldTeam and ISSUL representatives on 29 June and 30 September Whereas: 1. In its decision of 23 April 2015, the Licence Commission noted that the withdrawal of the licence requested by the UCI, if it had been ordered, would have happened at a time when the cycle racing season was already well under way. The consequences would have included problems relating to the very probable loss of employment for some members of the Team and the likelihood that a certain number of the riders would not have been able to find other teams prepared to hire them. 2. It resulted from the proceedings that an organisational approach announced by Astana, intended to improve the Team's situation, had been partially implemented from November However, ISSUL had certainly noted failings in this organisational approach. Thus it was highlighted that the coaching team had insufficient resources, that the organisation of team staff was on the whole deficient, that there was an excessively pervasive race management with the consequence of an overly vague definition of the competences of various team members and that checks on riders who were far away were very weak and often conducted in Russian. The expert consultant did however emphasise positive points such as the professionalism of individuals, coaches and doctors in particular, who were responsible for the team's ongoing operations. To these latter points can be added the creation of an information technology platform by Astana. The ISSUL expert consultants nevertheless emphasised that in order to be effective, this platform would have to be used, monitored and observed in a genuine manner. It was, in particular, necessary to ensure that all members of the Team coaches, sport directors, doctors and managers, focused on their own roles without interfering in decisions taken by other members of the team within the framework of their competences and prerogatives. 3. At the conclusion of the proceedings before the Commission there thus remained some negative elements in the prognosis for the future of the Team, in particular a 2

3 certain "old-style culture" with over-influential leaders, an insufficient delineation of competences and powers as well as persistent failings in the monitoring of certain riders. The Commission considered that these negative points were open to improvement in the short or medium term to the extent that ISSUL was invited to specify, during the meeting of 23 April 2015, the conditions that it would impose in order to continue the collaboration with the Team. On 4 May 2015, Astana signed an agreement whereby it undertook to strictly observe the conditions drawn up by ISSUL with the approval of the Commission. Dates were defined as reference points to allow Astana's observance of the imposed conditions to be assessed. The Commission charged ISSUL with the responsibility of reporting on the respect of the said conditions. 4. On 19 June 2015, ISSUL delivered its first progress report. This consisted of an assessment of what provisions the Team had implemented in order to remedy the noted failings. The points examined by the expert consultants concerned physical preparation, the care of the riders, race management, the tools used for communication as well as the nature of communications. All of these points were analysed with regard to the rules set out in the organisation specifications for teams, but above all, in this case, in order to assess the efforts made by Astana to equip itself with a structure that would allow it to avoid, as far as possible, the doping cases that had affected the team in the 2014 season. At the meeting of 29 June 2015 dedicated to examining this report, it was noted that measures had been adopted by the Team in all areas deemed critical by the expert consultants: the coaching team had been reinforced and, in particular, the hiring of a Russian-speaking coach had been scheduled; arrangements had been made to improve the distribution of race management responsibilities, which would no longer depend on the dominant, pervasive position of a single individual; a Russian-speaking doctor was to join the medical team and, finally, a new effort was noted in the team's internal communications as a result of the implementation of an information technology platform known as Xxxx, although use of this system was barely satisfactory. 5. These findings allowed the Commission to maintain the suspension of the proceedings pending the second ISSUL report. 6. Delayed due to various circumstances (the Tour de France, too brief a time between the findings of the end of June and those expected in mid-august, etc.), ISSUL's second and final report was delivered on 23 September In summary, its conclusions were the following: "At the end of this audit of the team, we note that it has reinforced its expertise in the areas of preparation and care, and also that it is planning to continue this in 2016 with the arrival of two additional staff members to prepare riders who will be Russian-speaking. Furthermore, even if the use of Xxxx is still limited, the team has implemented communication systems within the medical unit, as well as between members of the race management and other medical and coaching structures. The formalisation of these communications has yet to be implemented in the area of physical preparation. This is rather an urgent matter given the increase in the number of fitness coaches. We have noted that the coaching team has applied a systematic approach to formalising riders' schedules. Scheduling can be observed for all riders. In this sphere however, the implementation of performance monitoring must be pursued as it is still at an embryonic stage, in 3

4 particular with regards to improving the skills of Xxxx Xxxx. Finally, the Astana team seems to have implemented a framework which should develop its race management functions and put into perspective the central position of Xxxx Xxxx who, in his own opinion, remains the key resource person of the team, even though Xxxx Xxxx is assuming increasing responsibilities in race management functions. On the basis of these findings, it would seem possible that if the Astana team were to manage to breathe life into the structures with which it seems to have equipped itself, it could be in compliance with the organisation specifications for professional teams that will be a condition of their registration from 2017." 7. The Commission met on 30 September 2015 with the attendance of the expert consultants and team representatives. The above-mentioned conclusions were analysed. It was noted in particular by the expert consultants that the Xxxx information technology platform adopted by the team was entirely adequate for exchanging messages but not for measuring performance. The team representative partly responded to this finding and considered that the platform was well used even if not everything was reported through it. The implementation and use of Xxxx appeared beneficial in his opinion. With regards to race management, it was noted that the report evidenced a positive development in communication between sport directors and other members of the team staff, in particular due to the fact that Xxxx Xxxx had agreed to review his position in the manner recommended by the expert consultants. 8. The proceedings launched following the UCI's request for the withdrawal of Astana's UCI WorldTour licence for the 2015 season were suspended to allow the team to prove its desire to eliminate the failings noted in its organisation. At the end of the probationary period of four months that ISSUL's mandate has lasted, it can be noted that, on the whole, the situation of the Astana team can be considered as very significantly improved compared with that revealed by the audit report ordered by the Commission in December 2014, in terms of the training plans for riders, the team staff, race management and medical care. To this can be added the creation of an information technology platform that has the objective of improving communication between the various components of the team. 9. As the 2015 season has finished, these favourable findings draw the proceedings undertaken before the Commission to a conclusion; these are now devoid of purpose for this season. It will nevertheless be necessary to monitor the implementation of the measures put in place by the team in respect of all the points subject to analysis by the expert consultants during the 2015 season. As the team registration procedure for the 2016 season started on 1 October 2015, it is now up to the UCI to assess the compliance of the Astana team with the requirements of the Regulations. 4

5 For these reasons The Commission decides: 1. That the proceedings for the withdrawal of the UCI WorldTeam licence awarded to the Astana UCI WorldTeam are now devoid of purpose and are closed. Pierre Zappelli President Pully, 19 October