Hein Verbruggen (born 21 June 1941 in Helmond), is a Dutch honorary member of the International Olympic Committee since 2008. Previously, he was a member of the IOC and Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008. He was president of the Union Cycliste Internationale from 1991 till 2005.
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Verbruggen studied on the Nyenrode Business Universiteit. Afterwards, he became sales manager.[1] IN 1970, when he was a sales manager at Mars, Incorporated, he convinced them to sponsor a cycling team, to get access to the Belgian market.[2] In 1975, he became a member of the committee professional cycling of the Royal Dutch Cycling Union (KNWU).[2]
In 1979, Verbruggen became a member of the board of the Fédération Internationale de Cyclisme Professionnel (FICP). He became vice-president in 1982, and president in 1984.[1]
From 1991 to 2005, Verbruggen was president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). From 1996 on, he was also member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).[3] During that time, Verbruggen combined the FICP (for professional cyclists) and the FIAC (for amateur cyclists) in the UCI. Because the Olympic organisation had the FIAC as partners, it had been impossible before then for professional cyclists to enter the Olympic Games, but from the 1996 Summer Olympics, professional athletes could compete.[4] In his last year, he installed the UCI ProTour.[5]
In 2005, Verbruggen became Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau.[6] Later that year, Verbruggen resigned as president of the UCI, and became vice-president. He then stopped being a member of the IOC, but was reinstated during the 2006 Winter Olympics.[3]
After the 2008 Summer Olympics, Verbruggen resigned as member of the IOC. The IOC then made him an honorary member, as did the Dutch Olympic Committee.[3]
In July 2008, a BBC investigation found documents indicating that over three million dollars were paid by Japanese race organizers as reimbursements for UCI expenses during Verbruggen's tenure as president, including five flights to the Netherlands for Verbruggen personally in 1999.[7] The investigation cited sources within the UCI who confirmed that the repayments were "explicitly a payback for getting keirin into the Games". Verbruggen denied any wrongdoing, and the UCI ignored BBC requests for clarification.
In May 2010, Floyd Landis accused Verbruggen of accepting a $100,000 bribe from Lance Armstrong to cover-up a positive dope control in 2002.[8] Verbruggen denied the allegation, but confirmed that Armstrong representatives had approached the UCI with the intention of donating money.[9] Verbruggen indicated that Armstrong's money would not have gone toward testing, but may have been used to purchase a Sysmex machine to analyze blood samples.
Pat McQuaid, Verbruggen's successor as UCI president, later confirmed that Armstrong made two donations during Verburggen's tenure; a personal check for $25,000 in 2002, which went toward doping controls for junior racers, and a $100,000 donation from Armstrong's management company in 2005, which went toward the Sysmex machine.[10] McQuaid also conceded that the UCI's acceptance of Armstrong's money may have been a mistake.
In July 2010, an email correspondence between Landis and Verbruggen was leaked to The New York Daily News, in which Verbruggen attacked Landis in the wake of accusations Landis made about the UCI and Lance Armstrong.[11] The e-mails were later reproduced at Cyclingnews.com.[12]
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