The Astanan cycling team have been warning that any more doping offences could see them stripped of their World Tour licence by the UCI.
In a press statement, the UCI said:
"The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) announced that the Licence Commission (1) has released its decisions with regards to the Astana Pro Team.
Concerning Astana Pro Team, last October, the UCI asked the Licence Commission to undertake a full review of the management and anti-doping policies of the Astana Pro Team. This request followed positive tests on two of its riders, Maxim and Valentin Iglinskiy (EPO), and on Ilya Davidenok (anabolic steroids), a trainee with the UCI ProTeam Astana since August 1st this year.
In accordance with the UCI Regulations, the team appeared before the Licence Commission in Geneva on November 6th. After an in-depth examination of the situation, the Licence Commission reached the following findings:
- “The organisation of the fight against doping and the support personnel of the riders in place until now by the team has defaulted”;
- “[The team] has initiated a reorganisation of all the support personnel of its riders in order to strengthen its fight against doping within the team to ensure greater prevention and repression”;
- “In view of the heavy and repeated doping cases, which occurred within the Team, it is therefore essential to monitor the implementation of such measures on the ground”.
In light of the above, the Licence Commission has subordinated the 2015 registration team to the two following conditions:
- That the Astana Pro Team is audited by the Institute of Sport Sciences of the University of Lausanne (ISSUL) (2), an independent body recognised for its expertise in this field. The ISSUL will look into the circumstances of the doping cases at stake to determine whether and to what extent the team and or/its management is responsible of the recent events. Furthermore, it will assess the team’s internal structures, culture and management systems to understand whether these are adequate to ensure that the highest ethical standards are upheld. It will release its report early February 2015. The audit will be paid for by the Team.
- That the Astana Pro Team adheres from 2015 to the internal operational requirements (3), which will be compulsory for all UCI World Teams from 2017 as part of the reform of men’s professional road cycling. Astana Pro Team will join a group of eight teams that have volunteered to implement.
The Licence Commission however warned that: “In the event that the audit would lead to reveal deficiencies or in case of faulty implementation of the internal operational requirements or if another doping case would occur within the Team during the 2015 season, the UCI would refer the matter to the Licence Commission for a determination on an eventual withdrawal of the licence.”
The Licence Commission also noted with respect to the recent allegations regarding the Padova investigation that as UCI is still waiting for the file: “For the time being, the elements of this procedure are unknown to the UCI and the Licence Commission and no consequence can be drawn in this case at hand. The UCI would call upon the Commission if evidence against the Team is established.”
Therefore, the occurrence of any the aforementioned grounds, amongst others, would prompt a referral to the Licence Commission to envisage, if necessary, the withdrawal of the licence."