Cycling gets political too?

Elections for a new executive of the Cycling Association Elections were first postponed from the twenty-fourth of November to December eighth and then to January twentieth, 2013. Deputy Mayor Dion Leslie is challenging President Emil Moreno.  The President of the Pan-American Cycling Federation, Jose Manuel Palaez Rodriguez, wrote to the Minister of Sports to say that both his organization and the International Cycling Union support Moreno and called for the postponement to facilitate the arrival of representatives to witness the elections to ensure that due process is done. At the centre of the controversy is the constitution, there are two, but Moreno and the international bodies say they recognize the 2006 constitution. The situation is becoming very fluid and on Thursday night a stakeholders meeting was held at which Moreno was not included. Moreno told News Five today among other things that the issue has become political.

Emil Moreno, President, Belize Cycling Association

“That election will be held in San Ignacio again on the twentieth of January.”

Duane Moody

“They are saying that you are inadequate as the president of the cycling association—that nothing is being done really for the sport—your comments to that.”

Emil Moreno

Emil Moreno

“The only comment that I would have to say to that is that, fifty percent of my executive has moved over to what is the new slate of Dion Leslie’s. They talk about incompetent; probably that was the incompetent part that went across to Dion Leslie’s slate. Yes, cycling is a controversial sport. We look at it every day and we see cyclist on the road doing all the things that are not the right thing to do. But we need to educate them. The education process is the one which we are going through. We need to spend more resources in educating our cyclist and that is not happening for reason is that we don’t have the financial resources backs by the government to have us do this. The only constitution I know is the constitution that was given to me which is the constitution that was adopted and ratified the Belize Cycling Association, October twenty-fifth, 2006. That is the only constitution I know coming into my presidency. All the allegations that they are talking about an election at the end of two years or replacing the president at the end of two years, why didn’t this happen in 2010? That was two years since I took office. The national sports council does not want to recognize the constitution which we had had because they are claiming that they threw away all the old constitutions and they only use the current constitution which was registered with them. Of course that constitution belongs to what is known in our country as a regional association; the Belize Cycling Association Regional Level, Belize City.”

Duane Moody

“It seems that it is becoming political; that they are working against you. I understand that there was a meeting yesterday and you weren’t invited to that meeting given the fact that it was about cycling.”

Emil Moreno

“That is very much so. As a matter of fact, a lot of the known politicians in the sport tend to boycott a lot of the races that the Belize Cycling Association has. Of course, one, they have the finance; and two, they have the power. For which reason, probably that is why I wasn’t invited. But it would have been a very good dialogue for me to dialogue and point out to the minister—even though his mind might be set in one direction; that of Dion Leslie’s—maybe he would have had a change of mind, a change of heart for the three hundred cyclists that we have out there.”