UCI and former WADA president Pound make peace

The International Cycling Union (UCI) and its former president Hein Verbruggen have dropped its lawsuit against former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president Dick Pound.

The litigation, initiated in March, 2008, came in response to comments Pound made questioning the extent of the UCI's anti-doping efforts under Verbruggen. The UCI took his criticism as an "attack on their integrity".

In response, WADA withdrew its support of the UCI's biological passport programme.

The two sides reached an agreement on Tuesday to end the lawsuit. A press release from the UCI said that Pound acknowledged that "some of his comments reported in the media might have seemed excessive if they were interpreted to mean that the UCI and Hein Verbruggen were doing nothing to combat doping."

Under the agreement, Pound acknowledged the UCI's current efforts to fight doping in cycling, but WADA maintained the duty to note any "inadequacy on the part of any agency" in order to further its goals for combating doping.

Both sides have refrained from making any further comments on the matter under the agreement, and will bear their own costs and expenses for the action.

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