Team staff to sign new UCI agreement

The UCI has announced a new charter that it will require all team managers and staff to sign as a part of the governing body's ongoing efforts to combat the sport's doping problem. The announcement of the new agreement follows on from a similar charter launched on June 19 for riders, which participants of the Tour de France were required to sign in order to compete.

UCI president Pat McQuaid has written to all UCI ProTour team manages requesting they, and their staff, sign the news "Managers' and other team staff's commitment to a new cycling".

"In signing the document, they promise never to encourage a cyclist in their team to dope himself, nor to turn a blind eye to any doping activities that occur within their team," declared a statement from the body announcing the new agreement. "They also undertake to set up measures to ensure that there is no doping in their team (managers) or to help put these measures into action (other staff members), and to co-operate if necessary with authorities in the fight against doping."

Similar to the riders commitment launched last month, the names of all managers and staff members, which extends to team doctors, who have signed the document will be published on the UCI's website.

"If the pledge is broken, staff members who have signed the declaration agree to pay an amount equal to their annual salary to the fight against doping, which will be managed by the Council for the Fight Against Doping (CFAD), an organization which includes representatives of the riders and of the teams," continued the release.

The new document must be signed by all team personnel by August 1, according to the organisation.