Wants answers: Sports Minister Kate Lundy.
Federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy has appointed retired former NSW Supreme Court chief judge James Wood to head an independent review of Cycling Australia which she wants finished by Christmas.
The review comes after the resignations of Australians Matt White, CA's national co-ordinator, Olympic selector and head sports director of the Orica-GreenEDGE team, and CA vice-president and former professional rider Stephen Hodge, as part of the fallout from the US Anti-Doping Agency report into doping allegations against Lance Armstrong.
"This review is necessarily, I believe, to restore the confidence that the Australian public has in the sport of cycling and post the quite explosive revelations from the US anti-doping authority, USADA, and a number of resignations from Cycling Australia," Lundy said on Wednesday.
"There is a need to review Cycling Australia in this context.
"I have asked Judge Wood to advise on what Cycling Australia needs to do in relation to recruitment and employment practices in relation to people that may have been involved in doping in the past, and I am hoping the recommendations that arise out of this review into Cycling Australia ... may be able to be adopted through the Australian Sports Commission and applied to other sports as well."
Lundy said she was concerned by the damage the Armstrong controversy had had on the sport.
"I am worried about the integrity of cycling, I am worried about the way these revelations have made people feel about particularly their hero, Lance Armstrong," she said.
"I am worried about the confidence people have in cycling. I am worried about the kids who have idolised cyclists around the world and now are seeing that their heroes have fallen."
Hodge had admitted to using blood-boosting EPO, cortisone and other substances from 1989 until his retirement in 1996 to ensure he could compete in the world's elite races, including the Tour de France, Tour of Spain and the 1996 Olympics.
White confessed to doping during his stint as a rider on the US Postal Services team led by Armstrong.
Wood is also chairman of the NSW Law Commission. He recently led the inquiry which resulted in NSW criminalising match-fixing.
"I would like to see a tight time-frame, four to six weeks, for this review," Lundy said.
"I would be very keen to see the recommendations before Christmas."
Lundy has also announced the establishment of the National Integrity of Sport Unit to help stamp out match-fixing and protect the integrity of sport.
The new unit will help co-ordinate the implementation of the national match-fixing policy and support sporting organisations in their bid to have systems in place to monitor and report on activities of their players and officials. However, the unit does not have the ability to lay charges.
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