Cycling event alleged to have bought Olympic acceptance from UCI

The keirin is a high-speed cycling event where cyclists are initially led around by a motorcycle. Photo (c) flickr user velo steve, used under a creative commons 2.0 licence.

The allegations come after an investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation into the finances of the UCI, which showed that the world cycling body received USD 3 million from the organisers of a Japanese cycling event.

Papers seen by the BBC seem to indicate that Japanese keirin promoters began making payments to the UCI two months after the event was accepted as an Olympic discipline.

“Written on UCI letterhead one of the contracts states that the Japanese agree to support UCI projects in "material terms", in consideration of "the excellent relationship the UCI has with representatives of the Olympic movement",” writes Matt McGrath of the BBC.

Keirin big business in Japan

The Sydney 2000 Olympics saw the first inclusion of the keirin as a recognised event, after the International Olympic Committee accepted the UCI’s endorsement of the event for inclusion at the Games.

At the time, the keirin had little or no following at an international level, but had a huge following in Japan commanding tens of millions of dollars in gambling revenue, reports the BBC.

As such, Japanese keirin event organisers would have had an interest in seeing the event spread internationally, and the Olympics would be a perfect opportunity to do so.

No definitive proof

However, the BBC have been unable to find any definitive proof that the UCI agreed to include the keirin as an Olympic event as a result of the payments made by Japanese keirin promoters, and the allegations have been denied by the UCI.

“As UCI exists to promote cycling, it is perfectly logical that UCI would cooperate with Japanese national cycling groups to encourage international interest in track cycling. The agreement did not include any provision regarding keirin’s acceptance as an Olympic sport or even a commitment by UCI to seek its inclusion in the Olympic programme. To conclude otherwise would be incorrect. In fact, the agreement was signed six months after keirin was entered in the programme, along with three other track cycling events – the men’s Olympic sprint and Madison, and the women’s 500-meter time trial,” says the UCI in a press statement on the cycling body’s website.

“The agreement produced clear benefits for all track cycling disciplines as evidenced by the superb progression of track cycling over the past 10 years. It allowed UCI to hire a full-time track cycling coordinator, support track cycling events around the world and contributed to the establishment of a world cycling center, including a velodrome in Switzerland. Through UCI’s efforts, track cycling was rejuvenated in the mid-1990s,” continues the UCI. “In addition, all expenses related to the agreement were reviewed by an independent auditor and deemed proper.”

Hein Verbruggen, UCI president at the time, has also denied the allegations telling the BBC that it's been done in total transparency… This was done for the development of track cycling around the world."

Rumours at UCI

Nonetheless, rumours that the UCI accepted financial assistance from Japanese cycling groups in order to approve the admission of the keirin as an Olympic event has existed for some time, as confirmed by Henrik Elmgreen of Denmark, a UCI governing body member at the time.

“We must admit that when they came it was because the Japanese were very influential in the UCI and they offered a lot of money in order to promote this discipline,” he told the BBC. “You can to a certain extent say they bought their way in but on the other hand it is a spectacular discipline.”

“Everybody knew the Japanese were supporting the world cup series and were supporting everything and I think everybody realised that they weren't doing it for nothing… They wanted something in return and everybody knew what they got in return," he continued.

Ethics Committee investigation?

Allegations such as these could be a matter for the IOC’s ethics commission to oversee. However Great Britain's Sir Craig Reedie, an IOC ethics committee member, told the BBC it is not directly a matter for his organisation:

“The International Federations have their own set of rules. We would trust our International Federations to get this correct. It is a matter of trust." 

Related links:

• BBC report
• UCI statement