UCI says Moreno is legitimate president of BCA

Last week, the Minister of State, Herman Longsworth, installed an interim cycling committee following a meeting with International Cycling Union representative, Manuel Paleaz. It would have been an end to a controversy that had been dragging for months, but clearly it is not. Paleaz has reported back to the UCI about the unsuccessful meeting.  The UCI, of which the Belize Cycling Association is a member, has fired back a letter to Longsworth affirming that Emil Moreno is the UCI’s recognized president and that the BCA, in this instance, must manage its internal affairs with absolute independence.  The letter, which was sent to the minister earlier today from ICU headquarters in Switzerland, addresses several discrepancies with a document provided by the National Sports Council regarding statutes filed with the organization.  According to the Manager of the Continental Confederation and National Federation Relations, Dominique Raymond, UCI cannot determine which dates the statutes were adopted.  Furthermore, the statutes registered with the National Sports Council are incomplete and vastly different from those registered with the UCI. News Five spoke by phone with BCA President Emil Moreno this evening.

Emil Moreno, President, BCA

“The letter was addressed to the minister and basically I had forwarded a letter that was sent to me on the eighteenth of February by the national sports council in relation to an interim committee to be set up for cycling. With that, I sent it off to the UCI to see what they would advise me on or shed some knowledge as to what I should do. And basically, the letter is indicating to me that I should not take part in that interim committee. And it states as well to our statutes that the minister had sent to the UCI. And they had indicated that the statutes that the minister sent to UCI were not in conformity with the regulations of the UCI. It is stating as well that the UCI still recognizes myself as the president of the Belize Cycling Association here in the country. And they are also indicating that I must also have an election by the thirty-first of March. It is clear, I hope that the minister will answer the letter and copy me in as well.”

The UCI also writes that the national federation has to be fully independent in the control of the cycling sports without any interference from a third party. And it confirms that they consider Moreno as the legitimate president of the BCA. Clearly, there will be more to this story.