Updated at 12.49
IT HAS BEEN announced that Cycling Ireland will hold an Extraordinary General Meeting on its recent decision to nominate Pat McQuaid to contest the UCI presidential election.
The organisation came under fire earlier this month, after all but one of its members voted to nominate the controversial figure for a third term.
The website stickybottle.com subsequently threatened to launch a campaign to force Cycling Ireland to hold an EGM if they did not reverse their decision to nominate McQuaid.
And they are just one of several media outlets who have put pressure on the organisation after they made the controversial decision, with a number of clubs also urging them to hold an EGM.
It is also understood that the decision to nominate McQuaid is now considered void, because it was deemed that the rules for such meetings were not followed strictly during its course.
Accordingly, the federation released the following statement:
“Cycling Ireland at a meeting of its Board on April 26th decided to convene an EGM to consider matters which have arisen following the decision taken at its Board meeting on April 12th, to nominate Mr Pat McQuaid to stand for the position of UCI President.”
They added that the details of the EGM would be released early next week.
McQuaid has since released a statement, dismissing suggestions that the decision could be reversed, and claiming the meeting is being held as a result of a technicality.
Part of the statement reads:
“I was honoured that the board of Cycling Ireland endorsed my nomination as a candidate for the presidency of the UCI earlier this month.
“I understand that Cycling Ireland has now decided to refer the matter to an EGM as a result of a technicality arising from the fact that its President (Rory Wyley) temporarily vacated the chair of the nomination meeting so that he could contribute to the meeting under the chair of the CEO (Geoff Liffey).
“This decision was taken on the basis of legal advice on procedural rules not on the merits of my nomination which the Board has endorsed.”
