UK Anti-Doping sent a letter to British Cycling last autumn accusing cycling’s national governing body of "hindering" and "potentially compromising" its investigation into the infamous Jiffy bag sent to Team Sky and Bradley Wiggins at the 2011 Critérium du Dauphiné, according to Tom Cary of the London TELEGRAPH. British Cycling published the letter -- and its response -- on its website on Friday "after being confronted by the BBC." UKAD had refused to release the letters despite Freedom of Information requests, saying that it would "leave it open to legal action and that it was not in the public interest." In the UKAD letter, which was sent at the conclusion of its year-long investigation last November, UKAD CEO Nicole Sapstead told British Cycling CEO Julie Harrington that her organization had been "slow to inform Ukad" of the allegations put to it, namely that the package contained the corticosteroid triamcinolone. This, Sapstead said, meant the allegations had already reached a number of individuals before UKAD was informed, and thus able to act. UKAD's investigation was "ultimately inconclusive," with the agency unable to verify or refute Team Sky's claim that Fluimucil, a decongestant, was in the Jiffy bag (TELEGRAPH, 1/12). In London, Martyn Ziegler reported the letter said that the medical room at British Cycling was "chaotic and disorganised" with papers piled up in cupboards. There were no records of medical packages sent to events either at home or abroad or of what was stored in the medical room, and no record of medication being administered to riders. Sapstead said that there was "little if any supervision" of team doctors Richard Freeman and Steve Peters, and that there "needs to be a clear boundary" between British Cycling and Team Sky (LONDON TIMES, 1/13).
DOPING REPORTS: The BBC reported Parliamentary reports into doping and sports governance are "expected to be published by the end of February." The doping report by the Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Select Committee is expected before the end of January, with the sports governance report released in February. The criminalization of doping, more funding for anti-doping efforts and a "new sports ombudsman to deal with grievances from athletes, coaches, parents and staff independently" are expected to be included (BBC, 1/12).
