Skins, an athletic and compression gear company that’s been a big sponsor of cycling events and athletes, recently sued the UCI for damages to their brand and sales. The claim states the UCI and Patrick McQuaid turned a blind eye to doping practices and by doing so tarnished sponsor brands and hurt sales.
Now, Skins has scheduled a summit in London on December 2-3, 2012, for industry to discuss next steps, set parameters for sport and create a forum for doping practices and how to get rid of them. Here’s their official word:
Right now our brand is involved in one of the most important events in world sport.
As you know, Lance Armstrong has had his 7 Tour de France titles stripped from him. However, this is only part of the story. There is clear evidence published by the United States Anti-Doping Authority demonstrating complicit behaviour in the Armstrong affair within the UCI and its current President and Honorary Life President.
We waited for someone to jump up and down about the behaviour of the UCI. No one did. Now we want to do something about this and make a change in the sport of cycling. Doping in sport is not just a cycling issue. It concerns all sport. We fear that if we allow the doping issue in cycling to be swept under the carpet (again) then change will never happen in cycling or other sports. Those persons administering sport must be held accountable for their actions and inactions with respect to doping.
The principle of ensuring that doping is not a part of sport goes to the heart of the SKINS brand. There is no stronger principle and it is intertwined in our ethos and messaging.
As you may already know, we commenced legal proceeding against the UCI. This was our first movement to force change and enforce responsibility. Our second movement is the holding of a summit in London this weekend with a number of world leaders in sport and cycling. The summit is called Change Cycling Now. The purpose of the summit is to establish key principles for the sport of cycling going forward and to openly discuss doping and its practises.
Their website is here, and Facebook and Twitter pages are up and running now.
