Malaysia supports McQuaid's bid for re-election

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In yet another twist to the upcoming UCI Presidential campaign, the Malaysian Federation in conjunction with the Asian Cycling Confederation is proposing an amendment to the nomination process.

According to a UCI press release, the proposed changes would "reinforce the independence of future UCI Presidents by ensuring they are able to carry out the role based on serving the global interests of cycling, independently from those of any single nominating national federation." Any two national federations would also be entitled to nominate a candidate to stand for President of the UCI.

Article 51 of the UCI Constitution currently states that 1 – The candidates for the presidency shall be nominated by the federation of the candidate; 2 - Under penalty of inadmissibility, the nominations must be written in English or in French and deposited at the registered office of the UCI ninety days prior to the date of the Congress; 3 - If there is not a sufficient number of candidates, new nominations maybe introduced during the session of the Congress. The election will be limited to the new candidates; the candidates presented according to Paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall be automatically elected.

British Cycling's Brian Cookson is running as the sole alternate to incumbent Pat McQuaid at the upcoming elections on September 27. Cookson was nominated by British Cycling while McQuaid was snubbed by his home Irish Federation and he instead received nomination from the Swiss Federation. That is now being contested in the courts and if successful, Cookson stands to be elected without contest.

The UCI's press release also announced the new development that McQuaid has the support of the Thai Cycling Association and the Fédération Royale Marocaine de Cyclisme.

Should the Malaysian Federation and the ACC's motion be successful, the previous June deadline would be retroactively extended to August 30.