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UCI President all'attacco on Mapei boss
The president of the UCI, Hein Verbruggen, has taken the extraordinary step of publicly criticising Mapei boss Georgio Squinzi in a letter published in the Italian sports newspaper, La Gazzetta dello Sport, last Thursday.
Verbruggen's letter is a response to the decision last Tuesday by Squinzi to withdraw his company's support from the Mapei - Quick Step team, one of the most successful in the sport.
As one of the major sponsors of cycling, Mapei's withdrawal will have severe ramifications not just for the sport, but also for the teams of elite Division 1 riders, and the emerging Division 3 squad, which features a plethora of talented young riders.
When making this announcement last Tuesday, Squinzi said his reasons for ending Mapei's support were due to “the current problems in cycling and sport in general”, a veiled reference to the ongoing problem of doping.
Relations between two of the sport's most powerful figures have been strained in the past, but now they are clearly at loggerheads. In his letter, Verbruggen first congratulated the cycling-keen boss, stating that Squinzi's team promoted a brand that was previously unknown, conceding that “despite the differences that characterise his personal relationship with the sports institutions, cycling has benefited from the model organisation of his team.”
But then Verbruggen went on the attack, and Verbruggen suggested that the damage to be done to cycling following Mapei'ts decision to withdraw may be greater than Mapei's contribution to cycling. Mapei has supported cycling since 1993 and spent around US$100 million during that time.
Verbruggen also criticised Squinzi for his intervention during the decisive moments of the 1996 Paris-Roubaix, where he dictated the order in which Museeuw, Ballerini and Tafi should finish to then directeur-sportif Patrick Lefevere by mobile telephone.
Verbruggen suggests that Squinzi's decision to quit the sport of cycling was based not due to the recent doping scandals that have tainted his super-squadra, but “was probably dictated by internal contingencies within his company, which cannot unfortunately be made public”.
Further comments included claims that Squinzi had ulterior motives to withdraw its association with the UCI and had plans to ruin the sport with unfounded accusations about doping in cycling “during the sport's most difficult moments, showing no form of critical but constructive solidarity whatsoever.”
In addition to being critical of Mapei's failure to withdraw Stefano Garzelli from the Giro after his first anti-doping test was confirmed non-negative for probenecid, Verbruggen accused Mapei of attempting to create a cycling monopoly, with a team so large and powerful, “ready to commit itself to a disturbing destabilisation of the market by signing up every talented young rider”.
Squinzi's response to Verbruggen
By Tim Maloney and Jeff Jones
Mapei boss Dr Giorgio Squinzi has responded to Hein Verbruggen's open letter that was published in the June 28 edition of La Gazzetta dello Sport. In it, Verbruggen strongly criticised the man who had invested around US$100 million into the sport over the past decade, accusing him of profiting from cycling to promote his “previously unknown brand” of industrial chemicals, and of "destablising the market by signing up every talented young rider."
Dr Squinzi is currently President of Federchimica, the Italian association of chemical manufacturers, and is head of one of the world's biggest and most successful chemical companies. Verbruggen had insinuated that Squinzi and Mapei were nothing before they came into cycling, which Squinzi strongly refutes. In fact, Squinzi and Mapei have been recognized by none other than the Wall St.Journal as a model of entrepreneurial success while maintaining a strong sense of corporate responsibility. Mapei's chemical plants are known as being rigorously in line with strict EC ecological regulations governing chemical manufacturers.
Furthermore, Mapei has effectively used cycling to gain publicity and brought other sponsors into the sport through their business model such as Quick-Step and Fassa Bortolo.
Finally, in addition to sponsoring the world's number one division I team, Mapei has also been heavily involved in sponsoring young rider programs, both at the professional and amateur level. There are several developmental teams in Italy, Belgium, Spain and Australia, to name a few. The effects of Mapei pulling out of cycling will be felt globally.
The full text of Dr Squinzi's letter follows:
I have read the succession of articles published in the Gazzetta dello Sport, on 26 June 2002 (written by Angelo Zomegnan), 26 June 2002 (written by Candio Cannavò) and the open letter Hein Verbruggen of 28 June 2002 with the note from P. Cal. (Pietro Calabrese, director of the Gazzetta dello Sport).
I will not reply directly to the contents of these articles, not because there are assumptions and reactions to insinuations and heavy judgments that have been expressed about my personal situation and that of the Mapei team, but because I think that these type of comments and reactions are the best confirmation of the wisdom of the decision taken to leave this cycling. Therefore I'll stop myself here.
My attorneys tell me that the use of gratuitously offensive phrases and insinuations, which go beyond legitimate criticism or sporting controversy is technically called defamation. I'll leave it to them any further appraisal with respect to possible responses.
Personally, I am now going to dedicate myself to consolidate the optimal business results of my company, that has gotten from cycling (besides having given abundantly) a lot of notoriety and attention.
I cannot, moreover, forget that MAPEI S.P.A., first of all owes its fame to the person who started the company (my father) in 1937 and that it owes its reputation to the hard work and dedication of the staff during over 65 years of activity in the building industry, a company, therefore, Mapei that was anything but “unknown” (as Mr. Verbruggen said) before its entry into cycling, and was already world-wide leader in its field at the end of the 1980's.
Best Regards,
Dott. Giorgio Squinzi
Mapei SPA
Milan, 29 June 2002
Bron: Cycling news.
Heel kleintjes van Verbruggen…de druiven zijn zuur.
