Sponsor claims UCI were complicit with Armstrong

LONDON - Pressure continued to mount on the International Cycling Union (UCI) on Monday with one sponsor claiming the organisation was ‘complicit’ in sweeping the Lance Armstrong doping scandal under the carpet.Jaimie Fuller, chairman of the Australian sportswear firm Skins that has ploughed around 10million US dollars into the UCI over the last five years, says the scandal has caused reputational damage to the sponsors.The firm has served a legal notice on the UCI claiming 2million dollars (£1.25m) in compensation.Fuller said: ‘This is a ground-breaking move and it’s one of those situations that could become case law for the future.‘When a sport is in trouble you look to the international federation to help it through. It’s a pretty rare situation where the international federation is actually complicit in what was going on.’Fuller also claimed that UCI president Pat McQuaid and his predecessor and honorary president Hein Verbruggen needed to accept responsibility for the failure to deal with Armstrong, who was last month stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.‘These two gentleman have sat at the top of world cycling for 22 years and they need to be accountable for what they did and did not do,’ said Fuller.

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Sponsor claims UCI were complicit with Armstrong