Hein Verbruggen

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.

Biography

Verbruggen studied at the Nyenrode Business Universiteit. Afterwards, he became a 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 professional cycling committee 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]

As of 2012, Verbruggen remained an "honorary president" of UCI and was still on its management committee.^[7]

Controversy

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.^[8] 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 2001.^[9] Verbruggen denied the allegation, but confirmed that Armstrong representatives had approached the UCI with the intention of donating money.^[10] 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.^[11] Given UCI's endorsement of USADA's decision: that the donation was made by the leader of one of the most sophisticated, systematic and successful doping programs in sporting history, ironically, for the express purpose of improving doping controls, Verbruggen's acceptance of the donation has not been without controversy.^[12] 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.^[13] The e-mails were later reproduced at Cyclingnews.com.^[14]

USADA's "Reasoned Decision" on Lance Armstrong quotes Verbruggen as saying in May 2011: "There is nothing. I repeat again: Lance Armstrong has never used doping. Never, never, never. I say this not because I am a friend of his, because that is not true. I say it because I'm sure."^[15]

Defamation suits

Verbruggen (sometimes along with Pat McQuaid) has been involved in several defamation suits against people who accused UCI of corruption in regards to doping.

In 2002 UCI sued Festina soigneur Willy Voet for defamation over claims in his book Breaking the Chain.^[16] In 2004 the UCI won the case,^[17] and in 2006 won the appeal.^[17] Voet had made various claims about UCI and Verbruggen's alleged behavior related to an alleged issue with Lidocaine and Laurent Brochard at the 1997 UCI Road World Championships.^[18]

Another defamation suit was brought against Floyd Landis in 2011 for some of the aforementioned claims about Lance Armstrong and the UCI. The case against Landis was ruled in UCI's favor.^[19]

Another defamation lawsuit was against WADA Chief Dick Pound regarding his comments about doping and UCI.^[20] The lawsuit was settled by the parties in 2009.^[21]

Another was filed against former cyclist and journalist Paul Kimmage in 2012, again related to the accusations about Armstrong and UCI.^[22] The lawsuit was later dropped, but Kimmage had received money from the public to prepare a defense, so he decided to sue the UCI himself in a criminal court. He stated that he was doing it for the whistleblowers who were defamed by the UCI.^[23]

References

See also

• SportAccord