Acting independently of the International Federation’s administration, the body has now suspended the President of the Afghanistan Cycling Federation, Mr Fazli Ahmad Fazli, from all cycling-related activities for 15 months.

The UCI Ethics Commission found that the president had sent messages to members of the Afghan cycling community that, on several occasions, were of an “abusive and/or threatening nature.”

According to the UCI, the messages were deemed to be “in breach of Articles 5, 6.4 and 2.1 of Annex 1 of the UCI Code of Ethics” and Mr Fazli Ahmad Fazli will now undergo a period of suspension for abusing his position.

The Cycling Federation of Afghanistan and the UCI had previously judged that no elements justified the continuation of investigations into alleged violations of the UCI Code of Ethics by the President of the Afghan Cycling Federation Mr Fazli Ahmad Fazli during the humanitarian operation in 2021.

This operation involved a total of 165 people, including cyclists and other citizens, who were evacuated after the collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces, and the fall of the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan resulted in the Taliban taking power and declaring an 'interim government' in Afghanistan in 2021.

While the UCI concluded that there was no evidence “justifying the pursuance of the investigations on allegations of breach of the UCI Code of Ethics” during the humanitarian operation it continued an investigation into “other reported potential violations” of the UCI Code of Ethics by the President of the Afghanistan Cycling Federation.

The UCI Ethics Commission has also taken the decision to provisionally suspend Gert Vervoort, the Sports Director of the UCI Proximus - Cyclis CT Women's Continental Team.

From Tuesday, 16 July, Mr. Vervoort has been provisionally suspended in accordance with article 34.2.2 of the UCI Code of Ethics after several riders accused the Sports Director of inappropriate behaviour “of a psychological and sexual nature”.