Olympics

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ITU, König, do battle on a new front

May 9, 2001, Vista, California (www.slowtwitch.com):

Erika König––Secretary General of the European Triathlon Union and vocal critic of the ITU's current regime––has received a letter from a lawyer representing Christine Brown, who is or was employed at SSM Sportsworld, the ITU's marketing agent. The letter apparently claims that Brown was libeled in an oped piece written by König and sent to Triathlonlive.com in response to an article that appeared in Triathlonlive.com.

König sent out a press release today in response to the letter, and it reads, in part:

The governing executive board of the European Triathlon Union (ETU) on Wednesday announced its full support for Erika Konig, the ETU's general secretary, after she received written threats of legal action over an article she published last month.

The article appeared on the acclaimed and popular Triathlon Live website (www.slowtwitch.com) in April, and was critical of the way that the world governing body, the International Triathlon Union (ITU), had handled the sport's television, marketing and sponsorship affairs.

The press release then goes on to say that the attorney, acting on behalf of the ITU and Ms
Christine Brown, wrote to Konig, threatening action for libel over the article unless they received an apology, a retraction, and a payment of an insubstantial sum. The release then goes on to reprint the entire article, which appears in Triathlonlive's archives here.

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SSM Sportsworld cries foul, fires back

April 10, 2001, London, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

On the 11th of March Triathlonlive published an overview of triathlon's current political landscape which we entitled Politicos edge toward reconciliation. The secretary general of the ETU, Erika König, submitted a rebuttal or, at least––from her perspective––a clearing of the air, which we entitled König states her case. In an editor's preface we wrote that we "...did not solicit her comments, nor will we solicit a rebuttal or response from anyone at the ITU. If a response from someone of newsworthy stature comes anyway, we'll print that as well." That response has come from Julia Micklewright, the ITU event manager of the ITU's marketing agent, SSM Sportsworld. It is below.

Readers will notice that in her final paragraph Micklewright writes, "No one from Triathlonlive contacted the ITU or SSM Sportsworld for a response to any of the points raised in the piece." This is correct. We interviewed, and liberally quoted from, the ITU's secretary general in our original piece. We also notified the ITU when König's piece ran, reiterating that we'd mke room for a rebuttal if they so chose to send one––hence the rebuttal below. Likewise, we haven't, and won't, contact König about Micklewright's letter, and, as we stated in our preface to König's piece, any further discussion we host must take place on our forum. Micklewright's statement follows:

König states her case on Slowtwitch

April 2, 2001, Vista, California (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathlonlive recently ran a news story entitled Politicos edge toward reconciliation. In that piece Erika König was quoted liberally, as she was and is one of the central personalities in triathlon's political arena. She is the secretary general of the European Triathlon Union (ETU), and last year ran an unsuccessful bid for the presidency of the International Triathlon Union (ITU), triathlon's world governing body.

The news piece referred to above was an overview of the politcal landscape as of its date of publication––March 11, 2001. König believed we left much unsaid. She has crafted a piece that––from her perspective––fills in the blanks. She has asked us to print it, and we do so below. We do so without commentary, and also without endorsement. These are her words, not those of Triathlonlive, and are printed here without abridgement or editing. The very fact that the words are hers make them newsworthy, and that is why we print them here.

We did not solicit her comments, nor will we solicit a rebuttal or response from anyone at the ITU. If a response from someone of newsworthy stature comes anyway, we'll print that as well. As our mission is not to act as a forum for opinion, but for news, that will be the end of it, except on our forum proper, which is the only place on our site any such discussion will continue. Below is from Erika König:

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Politicos edge toward reconciliation

March 11, 2001, Vista, California (www.slowtwitch.com):

Anybody interested in the politics of triathlon might notice that tempers have been flaring again. They’ve been on low boil since last year’s Perth Congress where the vote in favor of retaining Les McDonald as ITU president might’ve been closer than 36-22, had a dozen or so federations been allowed a vote. A majority of the ITU’s executive board voted to bar certain delegates from the congress, either because their credentials were not in order or because their federation hadn’t paid their dues in a timely fashion.

The opposing camp––which championed Austria’s Erika König for president, and was supported in large part by European countries––didn’t take that lying down. Six federations having various grievances with the ITU filed a lawsuit in Canada. They allege that the ITU, a Canadian non-profit corporation, had violated its own corporate bylaws and Canadian corporation law through, among other things, conducting election irregularities.

The ITU concedes that some of these federations might have a legitimate beef, and admits that three of the federations it barred from Congress should, in retrospect, have been allowed in. ITU secretary general Mark Sisson defends the ITU’s behavior on the day. "In the heat of the moment, as the delegates arrived to register, it was clear that several were Australians parachuting in to vote on behalf of federations they’d never before represented, in a sport they’d never heard of two months prior."

An election to make Floridians proud.

The ITU also contends that all Olympic federations have pledged to follow the ITU’s constitution, which says that federation disputes must be settled at the Court for Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. The six federations counter-argue that this isn’t an Olympic federation dispute, it’s a corporate law dispute.

The judge in Canada sided with (what the ITU considers) the "rogue federations" insofar as jurisdiction is concerned. Since initial hearings, though, this pace of adjudication has been reminiscent of the Kona shuffle. Maybe Canada’s court system runs at the same speed as its health care system. Or perhaps in her wisdom the judge is letting all sides count the cost of this skirmish before it turns into a bigger battle than either side wants, but from which neither can retreat. Who knows?

Meanwhile, the ITU’s politicos still had arrows in their quivers. They threatened suspension of the "rogue federations" suing the ITU for taking their case to civil instead of "Olympic" court. And, they at least allowed––if not engineered––a European regional federation to be set up to compete with the European Triathlon Union (ETU) in its own back yard.

"How," you might ask, "do the six rogue federations and their lawsuit connect to a regional triathlon federation in Europe?" Good question, and only in the sinewy world of Olympic politics can roots and nerves and capillaries weave into a web so intricate. Erika König, the loser to McDonald in Perth, is the chief executive of the European Triathlon Union, an old (by triathlon standards) and generally well-respected admixture of 39 federations that span Europe and even include countries in the Middle East. In König's run for the ITU's presidency she had pockets of votes in Latin America and elsewhere, but Europe was her base of support in the Perth Congress. When the ITU backed (tepidly, as it turned out) a group of countries that have tried, and are trying, to compete with the ETU, that was a slap in the face to König and her supporters––on top of the slap in Perth, where the election might've been a horse race had all the König-leaning delegates been allowed to vote.

This new European regional federation––Triathlon Council of Europe (TCE)––was formed of eight of the largest of the ETU’s 39 federations (now seven, with the Brits having withdrawn). It appeared ready to take on the mantle of the ITU’s designated regional federation in Europe, i.e., to wrest the mantle from the ETU. It is perhaps worth adding that the nature of the mantle itself is a sore spot with the ETU. This body has no official standing with the ITU (there is no mention of regional federations in the ITU's constitution). Hence, there is no "official mantle" to wrest or bestow.

That was the state of affairs as the calendar turned over to 2001. In recent weeks our sport’s Israelis and Palestinians have either softened their stances toward each other, or they’re taking a breather before going at it tooth and claw once again.

Perhaps pushing them toward détente are outside forces which cast dark shadows over triathlon’s future––at least as regards Olympic and federation business.

First come rumblings––say ITU sources––that the IOC members are not happy about triathlon’s catfight. (König denies the IOC has its panties in a wad, and shrugs this off as a Les McDonald scare tactic). With every sport from rhythmic adventure racing to nude speed golf trying to get onto the Olympic program, though, it’s generally conceded that it's only good form for a nuovo sport like triathlon to keep its nose, and the IOC’s image, clean.

Second, it has been reported by European web portal Kjerag.com (Mar 1) that "Sports channel Eurosport is to drop its coverage of the ITU World Cup in 2001. The coverage of the European Cup series is also likely to be dropped… Eurosport's head of acquisitions, Vincent Chupin, said that the continuous rows surrounding the International Triathlon Union (ITU) makes it ‘very difficult for television to work with the sport'."

Finally, there is the lawsuit. This, plus the Eurosport action and what the ITU feels are growing IOC concerns, coincides with the ITU softening its threat to suspend the federations who’ve filed suit against it. It’s given these litigants extension after extension to drop the suit. Now it seems they’ll very likely never be suspended, or at least not unless and until the Canadian court throws the suit out or adjudication is finished. Why? The ITU doesn’t want to be seen by either the Canadian court or the IOC as too heavy-handed.

The ITU and the ETU are, in halting steps, moving toward each other. Within the last two or three weeks the following has occurred:

The ETU has set up a commission to investigate what changes it ought to make in its constitution.
The ITU has also impaneled a constitutional commission, and apparently one of the issues on the agenda is to tighten up gray areas––and address omissions––in its constitution regarding how it deals with regional federations.
The ETU has embraced a form of mediation––or at least fatherly advice––by the IOC in helping it resolve its disputes with the ITU.
The TCE is more or less history. This is technically not true. The ITU is quick to point out that the TCE is poised as a sort of Sword of Damocles should the ETU not come into what the ITU deems constitutional compliance. But it is also quite true that the ITU hopes to quickly settle its dispute with the ETU. Furthermore, the BTA’s very public and strident repudiation of the Mick English direction takes momentum away from the TCE.

As to that latter point, it has become quite obvious in recent weeks that the TCE has become––or perhaps always was––a lever to get the ETU into line. Mick English, president of the TCE, has stepped down from all triathlon-related posts he held inside the British Triathlon Association. (He was chairman of British Triathlon Association’s board of directors, and held sway over a variety of programs that affected Great Britain’s pro triathlon community). Virtually all of that country’s top pro athletes made a unified stand against English, demanding his resignation or a change in his tactics, which included support of the TCE. Now that English is gone, Great Britain has abruptly abandoned any involvement with the TCE.

A clue to the TCE’s real mission can be seen in English’s press release upon resigning his post four days ago. "My decision has been made easier by the success of the Triathlon Council in Europe (TCE), a pressure group aimed at encouraging the European Triathlon Union (ETU) to work with the International Triathlon Union (ITU) on their constitutions and rules."

Austria’s Erika König is suspicious of any pro-settlement body language exhibited by the ITU. Perhaps the tactical nature of the TCE enterprise has been lost her. Or, perhaps she just isn’t buying it. Even after reading English’s comments above, König wrote, "TCE as a simple ‘pressure group’… is not really consistent with their first [press release], dated December 7, 2000, [in which it said of the TCE] ‘… immediate recognition by the ITU was given, other [national federations] are expected to join.’"

Part of the raw feelings on the issue of the TCE is perhaps due to one element of König’s assumption above. While the ITU was an interested party in the TCE, it withheld any recognition. The TCE apparently told all the European national federations that it had the ITU's unqualified blessing (a blessing the ITU neither granted nor withheld). König assumed, perhaps with good logic, that the ITU had given the TCE its blessing. All this has König wondering what the ITU’s true purpose is, and she is assuming the worst.

"You will forgive me if I wonder whether the constitutional calls are really just a smoke screen," says König. "Would the ITU ever welcome back the ETU as its regional organization? I don't know… How it would be possible to ‘welcome back’… an organization that the ITU has never even recognized, and which the ITU has only recently discovered the need to discuss recognition at all? The ETU has always sought recognition by the ITU, but until now, the ITU has refused. Indeed, its constitution recognizes no regions at all."

That’s precisely the point, according to ITU secretary general Mark Sisson. Since there is no mention of a regional federation in the ITU’s constitution, there’s no way to formally recognize the existence of an extraconstitutional body like the ETU. But there is a way in which such bodies are recognized, which is by the ITU imbuing a regional federation the informal––but very real––right and responsibility to declare and host regional championships and points races.

Although both König and Sisson argue both ends of the same argument, Sisson says the ETU has constitutional issues of its own to solve. "Is it right, for example, for a regional federation to suspend one of its members for not paying a sanction fee, thereby denying that federation a voice in an ITU matter? Should an ITU daughter federation be denied a vote on, say, the designation of a regional ITU championship, because its regional federation suspended it?"

Fair point. The flip side of this argument is represented by König, who asks if it is "…appropriate policy for any international sports federation to be so insistent on making demands of one of its fellow organizations, rather than attempting to come to some sort of negotiation over any issues."

König is also suspicious of the financial motives of the ITU.

"The ETU has existed for five years longer than the ITU." she said. "So have the European championships... Now consider this: the European championships are the valuable commercial property of the ETU. We know that the ITU is bankrupt, has no substantial sponsorships remaining, its TV strategy is in ruins, and the IOC is no longer handing out large checks. I do not think that it takes much to work out what might be the ITU aims and objectives here."

"The ITU is not bankrupt," counters Sisson, "and anyone who knows how to read a financial statement can see that. ITU has no ulterior financial motive in the European Championships. Yes, they've been a cash cow for ETU, but only because of the high sanction fees and other charges levied in conjunction with the event. We think that's wrong. But more to the point, we just want our European NFs to have a well-organized championship event that allows for Olympic qualifier points and takes care of the athletes needs."

König insists she’s "not smarting at all," from the ITU’s tactics. But there’s no denying she’s taken some shots on the chin. "I do think that one of the ITU's aims - if only ever implicit – is to unseat me from my position as secretary general of the ETU."

But König also seems to want to put the past to rest and get onto better days. "I do not have a crystal ball, so I cannot predict the future. But I do know that the sport of triathlon, internationally, cannot afford to continue to act so self-destructively, and that I really do earnestly hope that some sort of solution and accommodation is reached over the course of the next four or five months to allow the sport to build on the tremendous success that its athletes enjoyed when at the center of the Olympic spotlight in Sydney."

How many roadblocks to reconciliation are constitutional and many personal?

The constitutional issues are not insoluble. In fact, they seem fairly easy. Write into the ITU constitution precisely what regional federations can and can't do. Write out of the ETU constitution the ability for the ETU to dispossess one of its federations from conducting legitimate ITU business so long as said federation is in ITU’s good favor.

Solving the personal issues and rebuilding trust may be a different story. All sides deny any personal animus that might cloud reconciliation. But politicians the world over hold grudges and are variously affected by both winning personalities and personal insults. It would be naive to expect triathlon’s politicos to free themselves of all that.

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ITU makes its case on regional federations

December 28, 2000, Santa Monica, California (www.slowtwitch.com):

Mark Sisson, ITU's Secretary General, responds herein to the current issues surrounding regional federations in general, and the Triathlon Council (a new regional federation in Europe) in particular. In so doing he is reacting to criticism -- some of which has aired on Triathlonlive.com -- to the ITU's involvement in regional federations, especially in view of the ITU's historic view that it only has peripheral involvement in such federations.

Some view the Triathlon Council as an end-run around a strong, vibrant, in-place regional federation, the ETU (an organization which actually pre-dates the ITU). Others see Triathlon Council as a needed group of federations on the ground in Europe and friendly to the interests of triathlon's world governing body. Triathlonlive.com does not and will not take a stand on the issue of whether the Triathlon Council violates the spirit of healthy disagreement between those of competing views. But we do expect to air competing views on this medium in the future. Below is the full text of Sisson's statement.

Several of Europe’s largest triathlon NFs met recently to form an advisory group intent on looking after ITU’s interests in Europe. This Triathlon Council of Europe (TCE) was not formed as a membership-based organization, it was not formed to interfere with athletes’ rights to compete wherever they desire, and it was not intended to interfere with the business of ETU. It was simply organized to make certain that the sport and the interests of ITU NFs in Europe are well protected.

In order to understand how all this came to be, it is first necessary to put into perspective how and why the International Triathlon Union (ITU) was formed and how it currently functions:

ITU was formed in 1989 by a handful of friendly triathlon federations who had one primary goal: to get Triathlon into the Olympic Games. The process had actually begun several years earlier, but had failed to materialize due to a major difference of opinion among some of the founding members. Most felt that triathlon should form a new independent federation, but a few holdouts believed that triathlon should actually join the UIPMB (Modern Pentathlon and Biathlon) as a separate multi-sport discipline within that federation. Martin Engelhardt (DTU) and several other European NF heads were early supporters of that approach and fought vehemently to go through UIPMB. Had we done so, we would not be on the Olympic Program and Triathlon would not have an independent IF.

Mr. Gunnar Ericsson, IOC Executive Board member in Sweden, was originally appointed by the IOC to aid triathlon in achieving Olympic status with UIPMB while it was under the leadership of General Sven Thofelt, the IOC member also in Sweden. Unfortunately, the election in 1988 of a pro-Soviet bloc modern pentathlon group in UIPMB, opposed to triathlon, replaced the existing Swedish-based leadership and ended any possible relationship triathlon could have with UIPMB. Fortunately, Mr. Ericsson’s primary responsibility remained to guide us along the unmarked and sometimes awkward path to Olympic recognition. In 1989, at a historic Congress in Avignon, France, ITU was formed by its "founding NFs" and a Constitution was approved. It was at this founding congress that Martin Engelhardt stormed to the head table, took the podium microphone and urged the delegates to walk out of Congress. Five did so, but the rest stayed to create ITU and Sydney 2000 Olympic Games status was the successful result.

The entire premise behind ITU was (and still is) that NFs work together to gain a spot on the Olympic Program. This is not to say that NFs can’t or don’t have individual objectives outside the Olympic Movement. In fact, most have many additional lofty goals, including fostering grass-roots (age-group) participation, but the primary goal of ITU and the NFs who founded it was participation in the Olympic Movement. In fact, the Constitution’s very first paragraph details the objects of ITU as "to support the aims, ideals and principles of the Olympic Movement and to secure inclusion of triathlon on the programme of the Olympic Games" (in fact, this clause was written with the help of IOC Director-General Francois Carrard). Additionally, the objects include "to aid the interests and well-being of its NFs".

As contemplated by the Constitution, the ITU is composed entirely of NFs. Each NF has one vote. In order to affiliate to ITU an NF must pledge its support of and for the Olympic principles. The relationship between the NFs and the elected Executive of ITU is critical to the success of the stated goals of Olympic participation.

The ITU Constitution recognizes five regions throughout the world based on the same boundaries that the IOC recognizes as the five regions of the world (hence the five rings). While each region is granted a representative seat and, hence, a voice and vote on the ITU Executive Board, it is important to note that regions do NOT carry a separate vote in Congress. The ITU Constitution does not refer to regional organizations at any time, nor does it grant or delegate any authority of any kind to regional organizations. Neither do most IFs, for that matter, since the primary driving force of any IF is the vote of its member NFs at Congress. Regional organizations such as they exist within the ITU family and ITU framework (as contemplated by the ITU Executive as well as by Congress general policy) by definition can not be "autonomous", can not serve as a block advocacy representing a region, can not write separate competition rules or anti-doping rules, and can not suspend NFs. In fact, NFs that are members of ITU-recognized regional organizations are members only as a result of their membership in good standing with ITU. In other words, regional organizations are simply smaller sub-groups of NFs affiliated to ITU and who are interested in promoting the ITU and developing the sport within the region. To take this concept a step further, an ITU regional organization actually represents ALL NFS within the entire ITU family – not just exclusively those within that region.

Clearly, official recognition of a regional organization by ITU Congress is essential to unity within the sport. Recognition is a standard term used throughout the Olympic Movement. Generally, this covers an area where no formal application, contract or constitutional provision exists, but which can be formalized by both the Executive Board and/or by Congress. As an example, ITU is "recognized" by the IOC as the official IF of Triathlon and related multisports. In turn, ITU has chosen to "recognize" groups of NFs who have taken on the responsibilities for developing triathlon (and related multisports) in a particular region. Since each of these regional groups is a direct sub-grouping of the ITU family, and is (in theory) constituted only to support the will of the ITU, it is crucial that each of these regional organizations be recognized by ITU (Congress) as the official organization serving ITU in that region. Otherwise any two or three countries could conceivably band together and declare themselves a regional organization whenever they desired. The normal "ITU-related responsibilities" of an ITU-recognized regional organization include locating, recommending and supporting venues for ITU Regional Championships, World Cup and International races and where applicable, providing local expertise and/or technical delegates for IOC-family Regional Games (ex. Asian Games, PanAm Games, Commonwealth Games). All of this is typically done in close concert with the ITU Executive. The responsibilities generally don’t extend much beyond these key functions. To the extent a regional organization elects to put on extra-curricular regional race series, they do so only with the permission and support of ITU.

It is clear that for a regional organization to work, its elected officials must have a good working relationship with ITU. When a regional organization’s executive starts seizing autonomy within a region, or starts taking actions that are contrary to the aims, ideals and objectives of ITU, problems begin to arise and NFs start to complain.

There was an example of such a problem three years ago. Prior to the Montreal 1999 ITU Congress, the Americas within ITU had been organized as three subsets of the Americas: Consudatri in South America, PATCO for all the Americas, and Concecat in Central America and the Caribbean. In the early days of ITU, it was hoped that this unusual deviation from the IOC Olympic standard would help foster growth throughout this geographically scattered region. Unfortunately, due to economic and other resource burdens, the effect of three regional organizations serving the Americas was actually counter-productive. The major NFs within the Americas complained bitterly to the ITU Executive that the needs of the sport and the athletes were not being met by that diluted regional system. Therefore, in order to consolidate into one region along the lines of the IOC, the three regions of the Americas were folded into one organization to officially represent all the Americas - PATCO – at a meeting held in 1999.

The 1999 Montreal Congress ratified this decision and officially recognized PATCO as the regional organization serving the Americas. As a result of this consolidation, and as the result of an agreement among the major concerned NFs at the PATCO-forming meeting, the former representatives from Consudatri and Consecat were displaced from their seats on the ITU Executive Board. It was clearly unfair to the rest of the ITU NFs to otherwise have three representatives on the ITU Board from the one region, where each other region had only one.

The question arises as to what happened to the prior existing sub-region Consudatri. Neither ITU nor PATCO necessarily forced or caused it to cease to exist, however, it ceased to be recognized by ITU. According to some reports the organization still exists, but not with any official recognition from ITU. The same for Consecat. While it is not up to ITU to tell Consudatri not to have South American Championships, the truth is, ITU no longer recognizes "South American Championships" as a regional event, nor does it award ITU Ranking points. Furthermore, any executive(s) of Consudatri no longer have standing within ITU by virtue of their position within Consudatri.

In Europe, a similar discontent has been brewing for several years. For the first seven or eight years of ITU’s existence, it was agreed by all of ITU that the ITU region of Europe was best served by the well-organized European Triathlon Union. And it’s no secret that ETU’s formal beginnings predate ITU’s. Unfortunately, over the past few years, the "agenda" of ETU’s five-person executive has not been the same as ITU’s. In fact, there has been much conflict. In particular, the business dealings of the ETU executive have caused problems with ITU’s basic Olympic-oriented objectives in Europe. European sponsors and broadcasters were seen to be driven more towards ETU properties than towards ITU properties. NFs were complaining of onerous fees and dues (while ITU’s annual fee is US$300, it costs 750 Euros to affiliate to ETU and ETU charges hefty sanction fees for its events). The executive of ETU have threatened to expel NFs for non-payment of affiliation fees (an act not allowed by ITU) and for non-payment of ETU-levied "cancellation" fees when races were cancelled. Separate ETU rules were often used in "international" competitions. Even the ITU Regional Championships of Europe were being selected, managed and marketed by the ETU executive as ETU properties rather than as ITU Regional Championships, despite repeated requests by ITU to adapt to the ITU protocol. The absence of ITU logos on ETU Championship marketing materials prompted ITU’s requests for compliance as long as three years ago - but none of the simple requests were granted, despite having been approved by ITU Congress resolution.

Concerned that the aims, ideals and objectives of ITU were not being looked after by the executive board of ETU, and concerned that the ETU executive did not care sufficiently about the Olympic Movement to make the necessary adaptations, eight of the largest NFs in Europe recently held a meeting to see what could be done to realign the European Region within ITU. The attendees at this meeting set out a list of simple but important goals that they wanted to accomplish for ITU within the Region of Europe. The group elected pro-tem leaders and decided to become the Triathlon Council of Europe (TCE). They requested that ITU recognize them as the official group representing ITU within Europe.

It is the understanding of the ITU Executive that TCE does not seek to put ETU out of business. They do not seek to create a "membership-based" organization. TCE itself should not and can not threaten any NFs or athletes with suspensions, nor do they intend to put any form of "ban" on athlete participation in ETU events. No NFs have been asked or advised not to join ETU. The TCE simply sought (and seek) to make certain that ITU’s interests are being looked after within the ITU region of Europe, interests that they feel are not currently looked after by ETU’s management. First and foremost, they want an ITU Regional Championship in Europe, marketed as an ITU event – not an ETU event – and the chance to proceed with other ITU events to count towards Athens 2004 participation.

The ITU Executive Board’s position remains consistent with its previous PATCO decision: a regional organization recognized by ITU as the official regional organization of that region must support all aspects of ITU’s aims, ideals and objectives. When the agenda of a regional organization’s executive comes in conflict with the wishes of the majority of ITUs NFs, it is encumbent upon ITU to assign the tasks to a new organization, unless or until the prior organization can realign itself. ITU consists of NFs – not regions – and NFs must know that their Olympic Dreams are being looked after. Until the ITU Congress convenes in Edmonton, or until serious management changes are made within ETU, the ITU Executive Board recognizes the efforts of the TCE to advance the interests of ITU in Europe.

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ITU calls for meeting for Council, NFs, in Lausanne

December 23, 2000, Lausanne, Switzerland (www.slowtwitch.com):

The International Triathlon Union on Thursday called for a meeting of its executive board, Triathlon Council of Europe members, other national federation presidents and ITU event organizers for Lausanne in mid-January.

The centerpiece of the meeting, January 12-14 at the Olympic Museum, will be an ITU executive board meeting. There, it's expected that the ITU executive will review and confirm, among other things, the ITU's plan for its world rankings and Olympic qualification leading up to the Athens 2004 Games.

At the January 13 joint meeting for the ITU, Triathlon Council and any other interested national federations, the ITU's 2001 schedule for ITU-affiliated events (world championships, World Cups, regional championships and international events -- a.k.a., "points races") will be unveiled.

The agenda for the three days is not too unlike the items discussed on December 14-15 in Vancouver, where a hand-picked "working group" was invited to meet with officials from ITU and SSM-Freesports, its marketing arm in London.

SSM-Freesports will also present, in Lausanne, a day-long workshop for ITU-event organizers. Among planned discussions for that are, the "shared challenge; working with local organizing committees; profitability; course design; sponsor satisfaction; branding guidelines; etc.

To encourage participation, the ITU is offering travel subsidies that help diminish the cost of a weekend in Lausanne. Event organizers, Triathlon Council members and other interested national federation presidents are all being offered $100 toward their expenses.

The gathering of the Council federations will be the first since the Council's formative meeting in Paris on December 2-3.

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Lessing leads British athletes against BTA

December 18, 2000, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

Simon Lessing, Britain's four-time world champion, is leading an athletes' charge in Britain that calls for the removal of Mick English as chairman of the British Triathlon Association.

Lessing and at least 20 top British elites and junior triathletes and duathletes put a petition to the BTA executive board on Saturday. They called for English's immediate resignation because of fears they will be barred from racing the lucrative and career-building race series of the European Triathlon Union.

Lessing, reached during a training session on Monday, declined comment.

Britain is one of eight European federations that announced the formation 10 days ago of the breakaway Triathlon Council in Europe, as a rival organization to the long-standing ETU. The Council elected the BTA's English as its first president, and invited other European countries to join in the move and drop their allegiances with the ETU.

The Council was formed "with the best interests of the athletes in mind." Trouble is, English did not communicate to his own athletes at home that they would no longer be racing the European Triathlon Championships and other ETU Cup events in triathlon, duathlon and winter triathlon.

The British athletes, including European champion Andrew Johns, two-time world junior champion Anneliese Heard, European junior champion Jodie Swallow and Olympian Sian Brice, learned about the move only after the BTA issued a press release December 7 supporting the Triathlon Council. The Council indicated that an alternative regional championship would be staged to the ETU's long-planned European Championships in Carlsbad, Czech Republic, for June 22-24.

The British athletes are fearful that the BTA will follow the lead of the French Triathlon Federation, which last week banned all of its elite and federation-supported triathletes from racing any ETU events in 2001.

According to a Reuters report, the British athletes' petition called for a vote of no confidence in English, on five points. Those include English's "provocative involvement in the newly formed Triathlon Council in Europe without at any time consulting the athletes".

Also according to Reuters, despite the vote of no confidence from British triathletes, English did not resign as BTA chairman immediately. None of the athletes contacted by Reuters agreed to speak on the record. But anonymously, one said: "It's ridiculous. The European races are our livelihood, and now that's under threat. The BTA board did not consult us about this move. It's just a political powerplay, and we are being used as the pawns."

English is known to have placed phone calls immediately after Saturday's meeting to some of the younger athletes whose signatures appear on the petition.

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BTA retains both Council, ETU ties

December 18, 2000, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

The British Triathlon Association took careful steps on Saturday to re-open communications with the European Triathlon Union, which it had turned its back on only eight days earlier when it led the formation of the breakaway, and rival, Triathlon Council of Europe.

The BTA directors met as a full board for the first time since chairman Mick English had informed each individually, by phone, that the BTA was switching its alliance to the Triathlon Council. English had been elected president of the Council at its formative meeting in Paris on December 2-3.

Now, it appears that the BTA is backtracking a bit, especially in light of the British athletes' call for the immediate resignation of English. The athletes, which put forward a petition signed by at least 20 of them, contend that they were not consulted before the breakaway move, and do not support a switch to the Council.

The BTA's Norman Brook, its new chief executive, issued a press release on Monday. It reads, in part: "The meeting instructed the Chief Executive and Chairman to enter into dialogue with the European Triathlon Union (ETU) and to seek a resolution of the issues, which have lead to the creation of the Triathlon Council of Europe (TCE).

"The BTA confirms its intention to remain affiliated to the ETU until such time as its membership decides otherwise.

"The BTA will continue to support the broad aims of the TCE and hope that through discussion the issues which gave rise to the creation of the council can be resolved in the interests of all European athletes."

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Triathlon stays on the Olympic 2004 program

Lausanne, Switzerland (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathlon will be part of the 2004 Olympics -- that was included in Wednesday's news out of an executive board meeting of the International Olympic Committee and reported by worldwide news wires.

"No new sports for 2004" is what took the headlines, delivering a blow particularly to the sport of water skiing, which had bid to join the Games.

Along with no new sports, Olympic leaders said, was the confirmation that all sports in Sydney -- including newcomers triathlon, taekwando and trampolining -- will stay on for Athens 2004.

For Athens, the International Triathlon Union is still developing its course there. An ITU World Cup for Athens scheduled for September 23, 2001, will be the first test for what could become the official Olympic course.

"We are still working on that," Mark Sisson, ITU general secretary, told Triathlonlive.com last month. "It was originally proposed out of town in a beautiful resort area, but we have been working on a "downtown" site featuring historic aspects of ancient Greece."

ITU officials made a visit to Athens for some site reviews in early August.

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Triathlon Council: BTA denies taking the lead

December 10, 2000, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, England (www.triathonlive.com):

The British Triathlon Association is the federation that first announced its support for the days-old Triathlon Council of Europe -- even before the Council itself was formally announced.

But over the weekend, new BTA chief executive Norman Brook tried to downplay the BTA's first-out-of-the-gate role in the stage-managed debut of the breakaway group of eight European triathlon federations.

Responding to the headline, "BTA announces a new triathlon council", carried on Triathlonlive.com last Thursday, Brook was concerned that it wasn't the BTA leading the Council away from the long-established European Triathlon Union, but the Council leading the BTA away from the ETU.

The BTA's press release, dated and released Thursday morning, indicated: "The British Triathlon Association today welcomed the formation of the Triathlon Council in Europe in Paris last weekend (2-3 December 2000) by the national triathlon federations of Denmark France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Switzerland."

The BTA was merely responding to the Triathlon Council's own announcement -- which carried a dateline of Wednesday, 6 December, Brook pointed out to Triathlonlive.com editor Katherine Williams.

"I am somewhat suprised that you are suggesting that the BTA lead the release of the announcement of the CTinE," Brook wrote. "Our press release was issued in response to that released by the newly formed Council which was issued some hours in advance of ours. I have attached this for your reference."

Although dated and planned for a Wednesday release, the Council's announcement didn't circulate until later on Thursday, however -- hours after the BTA released its "response" at 10am. The Council's delay, it turns out, was because the Council felt it couldn't move forward on its own before first getting full approval from Les McDonald, president of the International Triathlon Union.

France's Michel Gignoux, who had apparently organized the first meeting of disgruntled European federations in Paris last December 2-3, took responsibility for delivering the Council press release a few hours after its well-rehearsed plan. Each of the eight breakaway countries would act, starting at 10am on Thursday, in concert: First circulate a press release to media in the local language; then get on the phone to neighboring federations to encourage them to follow suit and join the Council.

"Here is what has been sent at 05:15 today 7th december," Gignoux wrote to the Council's new leadership, as he put the public relations plan into effect. "The delay is due to a last minute hold by ITU HQ in order to get physical approval by Les. Now it's done. You can go for it."

The Council, it turns out, has the private support of the ITU -- but the ITU isn't saying a word publicly about its role in the group's formation. Formalized on December 3, the Council is a direct threat to the 16-year-old ETU.

Asked about its involvement with the Triathlon Council, the ITU did not respond to Triathlonlive.com's query. Hours later, though, the ITU did circulate the Council's press release and "Letter to National Federations" to its own inner circle of 14.

The Council is expecting the 31 other members of the ETU to break ranks with the ETU, as they have, and fall in step with the new Council. The enticement is that the ITU has apparently decided to pull its world-ranking points from the European Triathlon Championships and put them toward a new, not-yet-announced Council event that would rival the European Triathlon Championships. The Council has promised, in return, to fully support the "principles, constitution, policies, rules and regulations" of the ITU.

The ITU has not yet communicated the loss of ranking-points and any other status to the ETU. In the meantime, the BTA chairman, Mick English, has been elected president of the new Council, declaring: "We want the best for our athletes."

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ETU calls for an extraordinary meeting

December 8, 2000, Graz, Austria (www.slowtwitch.com):

Responding to Thursday's announcement that eight member federations of the European Triathlon Union have broken away and sought approval from the International Triathlon Union to set up their own European regional triathlon organization, the ETU has issued the following statement:

European Triathlon Union calls on all nations for special meeting

The European Triathlon Union (ETU) on Thursday announced that it is to hold an extraordinary congress immediately to discuss the threatened split from the organisation by eight member nations.

Even those federations who say that they do not wish to be members of the ETU any longer are welcome," Konig-Zenz, the ETU general secretary, said on behalf of the ETU Executive.

France, Spain, Great Britain, Italy, Switzerland, Greece, Monaco and Denmark announced on Thursday that they are to try to establish a breakaway organisation called the Triathlon Council for Europe.

"What are they trying to achieve?" Konig-Zenz said. "They say that they want to affiliate to the International Triathlon Union and that the ETU is not affiliated to the ITU: that is simply because only national federations can affiliate to the ITU. Under the ITU constitution, there is no way even for this 'Council' to affiliate.

"And they say that they are concerned about staging events in Europe that earn ITU ranking points. They are right to be concerned - because it is the ITU which determines which events qualify for ranking points. They need to ask the ITU why it refuses to recognise so many quality events in Europe.

"The new 'Council' say they are working for the good of all of Europe's athletes. Of course they are - as are all the members of the ETU. But are they sure that they are not being used by other interests? And have their actions had a full discussion by their own national executives, and received their proper approval?

"The ETU is a properly registered, democratic organisation which prides itself on following the rules of its constitution to the letter. The ETU is made up of 39 countries in total. All the nations forming this new 'Council' were present at the ETU Congress in Stein, the Netherlands, in July, yet they did not voice any complaints of this nature then, they did not seek to nominate alternative candidates. So why must they meet in secret now to form their own little group?

"The ETU understands that both Britain and Spain, and others among the eight countries, may have problems in paying the large debts that they owe to the ETU - but as we have shown in the past, we are an understanding and patient organisation.

"It is well known that there is a court case in Vancouver involving the ITU and its president, Les McDonald. If the judgement in that case goes against Mr McDonald, and he is forced to hold new elections, what will that mean for the eight members of the 'Council'?

"McDonald has done this sort of thing before. When he could not control the Latin American regional federation, he tried to set up his own puppet organisation. It is no coincidence that this should happen again in Europe.

"We call on all of the national triathlon federations in Europe, who have the interests of the athletes at heart rather than the preservation of their personal positions, and who respect the democratic process, to contact the ETU immediately if they have any concerns about the management of this organisation.

"We also ask that we all come together in the spirit of true sportsmanship at a special meeting which, we at the ETU, will organise early in the new year.

"We are interested only in the good of all triathlon in Europe and around the world."

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BTA announces a new "Triathlon Council"

December 8, 2000, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

Last weekend, at the same time that the European Triathlon Union's race directors had gathered in Paris to confirm dates for the 2001 ETU Cup schedule, a second group of disgruntled European triathlon leaders was also gathering in Paris.

The outcome of that little-known meeting was made public on Thursday, when the British Triathlon Association and its chairman, Mick English, announced the formation of the breakaway Triathlon Council in Europe.

"The British Triathlon Association today welcomed the formation of the Triathlon Council in Europe in Paris last weekend (2-3 December 2000) by the national triathlon federations of Denmark France, Great Britain, Greece, Italy, Monaco, Spain, Switzerland," read a press release issued Thursday by the BTA.

The release continues: "The Council was immediately given recognition by the Executive Board of the International Triathlon Union and other European nations are now expected to affiliate. The newly formed body was also empowered to establish an event in 2001 as a qualifying competition for European athletes to participate in the 2001 World Championships.

"The decision to form the Triathlon Council for Europe, a body which will be directly affiliated to the International Triathlon Union, follows a decision by the European Triathlon Union's Executive that it is not in any way affiliated to the international body. Those National Federations, which were in attendance at meeting in Paris, were unhappy with this position.

"A pro-term executive was formed at the Paris meeting to steer the formation of the new body and full elections are to be held during the World Triathlon Championships which take place in Edmonton, Canada.

"Chairman of the British Triathlon Association, Mick English, was elected as the pro-term President of the Council. He stated "the aim of the new body will be to support the principles, constitution, policies, rules and regulations of International Triathlon Union. To work towards the qualification of European triathletes through ITU events in Europe for major championships, and to continue the ITU's strong commitment to Olympic programme status and Olympic ideals."

"Other pro-term office bearers are Marisol Casado, Vice President, Spain; Andreas Arvanitis, Vice President, Greece; Carsten Ditlefsen, Secretary General, Denmark; Angelo Bonizi, Treasurer, Italy; Anne-Marie Gschwend, ITU Representative, Switzerland; Event Coordinator, Michel Gignoux, France; and Board Members, Enrique Quesada, Spain; Marco Sbernadori, Italy; Jacques LaParade, France; Ioannis Psarellis, Greece; Christian Giovannini, Monaco."

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ITU case now awaits judge's decision

December 4, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The petition brought by the German Triathlon Union and several other national triathlon federations against the International Triathlon Union was heard by Madam Justice Gill of the British Columbia Supreme Court on November 25, 26, 27 and 29.

The judge has reserved her decision on the merits of the case, and the parties expect that she will release her decision, together with written reasons both on the merits and on her ruling on jurisdiction, in due course.

The ITU brought a preliminary motion to have the Petition stayed on the basis of an arbitration clause which, they said, requires this matter to be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Justice Gill ruled against this motion, and stated that she would not decline jurisdiction.

The hearing of the petition entailed a detailed review of the evidence presented by way of numerous affidavits, as well as submissions on the meaning and effect of much of the ITU Constitution. The hearing focused primarily on whether representatives of 11 national federations from Congress were properly excluded.

The ITU conceded that representatives of Estonia, Poland and the Dominican Republic had been improperly excluded from Congress. But they argued that delegates from Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Ireland, the Netherlands Antilles, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela were properly excluded on the basis that they were "proxies", which are not allowed under the ITU Constitution.

The ITU argued that a "proxy" is anyone appointed to represent a national federation at Congress who is not a member of that federation. The petitioners argued that a "proxy" is a delegate of one national federation appointed by a second federation to represent that federation as well as his or her own.

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McDonald denies Tiananmen Square quote

December 4, 2000, Toronto, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The quote heard round the world last week -- "You've got to find a way of marketing bloody Tiananmen Square so that it's not the only image they have is a bloody tank with a university student." -- and attributed to International Triathlon Union president Les McDonald, was a misquote, McDonald says.

He told The Star, a Toronto daily, over the weekend that he didn't say that during his visit last month to Beijing, where he and ITU general secretary previewed the proposed course for triathlon, should Beijing win the 2008 Olympics bid.

The Star article quotes McDonald:

"The Chinese had a press conference after I visited Beijing the other day to check the triathlon site, and all I said was the same thing I say everywhere: 'It's a great venue; have a nice day.'"

Here is the full article carrying McDonald's denial:

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Clydesdale classes now added to ITU Worlds

November 27, 2000, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Triathlon's largest triathletes -- the ones who compete in weight-division classes -- will now be included in the International Triathlon Union's World Championships with their own competitive divisions.

The first World Championships to recognize them will be next July 21-22 in Edmonton, where about 1,500 age-groupers will race one day before the world's elite and junior triathletes.

The Edmonton event is actually the first of a three-year "phase-in" toward full ITU recognition, according to the Indianapolis-based Team Clydesdale International. Guy East has been the man behind the movement, which has its roots in running. Clydesdale (men) and Athena (women) divisions recognize performances across several sports by athletes who are a bit heavier than the usual lean-and-mean image of runners, triathletes and others.

Clydesdale and Athena divisions are quite common in American triathlons, and USA Triathlon even has a Clydesdale racing commission, chaired by East. Great Britain has also caught on to the Clydesdale concept in a big way in the last year, particularly after the first Clydesdale World Triathlon Championship was staged as part of John Lunt's Windsor Triathlon last June in Windsor, England. About 100 triathletes -- most of them flying over from the US -- took part.

If the Clydesdale movement gets enough participation support in the ITU World Championships in Edmonton (2001), Cancun (2002) and Queenstown (2003), then the ITU will grant "official" status to Clydesdales.

Clydesdale athletes in Edmonton will not be representing their countries, however. They will compete in Team Clydesdale International uniforms, and must register via the www.active.com website.

Any Clydesdale athletes in Edmonton will be in addition to the usual age-group allotment for Worlds, 12 men and 12 women per category. The ITU has granted 100 men's and 100 women's separate starting slots for Clydesdale athletes, and Team Clydesdale International will determine the final fields.

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McDonald: Triathlon in Tiananmen Square in 2008

November 22, 2000, Beijing, China (www.slowtwitch.com):

International Triathlon Union president Les McDonald, whose sport opened the Sydney Olympics in front of the Sydney Opera House, now envisions triathlon finishing in Tiananmen Square, should Beijing win the 2008 Olympics bid.

McDonald said he told the Chinese that triathletes on Tiananmen would help the world get past the 1989 crackdown that killed hundreds of dissidents. According to an Associated Press report, which quotes McDonald: "I said, `You've got to find a way of marketing bloody Tiananmen Square so that it's not the only image they have is a bloody tank with a university student."

McDonald made the declaration last week on a visit to Beijing, where he said he reached agreement with Chinese officials to hold the triathlon partly in Tiananmen. He envisions a finish in front of Chairman Mao's portrait.

Route details are still sketchy, of course. But an official within the bid committee's sports department told AP: "In principle it should not be a problem, but we have to wait for the final decision from the top."

Beach volleyball -- considered the Olympics' other young, sexy, brash sport alongside triathlon -- has also been proposed for Tiananmen Square.

Chinese officials appear anxious to change the world's view of Tiananmen, where, for the past 16 months, police have continued to beat members of the Falun Gon sect for their peaceful protests of a government ban on the group.

Tiananmen has been the site of martial arts displays and national celebrations, even a few running events, according to Associate Press reporter John Leicester. But it has never hosted a sport for the scanty-clad, such as triathlon or beach volleyball.

McDonald's trip to Beijing coincided with the Canadian embassy sponsoring a charity run, for 5000 participants, at Tiananmen.

The 2008 Olympic city will be selected in July at the International Olympic Committee's congress in Moscow. Toronto, Paris, Osaka and Istanbul are the cities bidding against Beijing.

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ITU hearing rescheduled again for lack of judge

November 21, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia (www.slowtwitch.com):

The hearing in the Supreme Court of British Columbia for six federations' petition against the International Triathlon Union has been delayed again -- and again due to a lack of judges available to hear the case, expected to run two days.

The federations are alleging irregularities in the ITU Congress and elections that occurred last April 27 in Perth, Australia. The ITU will argue initially that civil court is not the proper venue for the case, and will appeal to have it dismissed and taken up, instead, in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

This was the third time the court hasn't been able to schedule a judge for the hearing. The court registry is sympathetic with the petitioners, and has now provided new dates -- plus alternative new dates -- for the case to be heard.

The new dates are Monday and Tuesday, November 27-28. The alternative dates are Thursday and Friday, November 30-December 1. There is a very high chance that a judge will be made available for the Monday start and, if not, on Thursday.

The Canadian court system is known for its backlog of cases and inavailibily of judges.

The six countries petitioning for new ITU elections are Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Venezuela. All of them have been threatened with suspension by the ITU if they don't quit their involvement with the group's lawsuit. A seventh country, Honduras, ceded to the ITU's demands and withdrew itself from the petition.

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McDonald loses GAISF executive board seat

November 15, 2000, Monte Carlo, Monaco (www.slowtwitch.com):

The position held by Les McDonald, the ITU president on the influential executive board of GAISF -- the General Assembly of International Sports Federations -- is no more. He suffered something of a setback at the end of October, when elections for the five board seats were staged at the GAISF Congress in Monte Carlo. This was reported in the latest edition of the Sport Intern newsletter -- a German publication noted for its anti-McDonald sentiment.

GAISF's membership is drawn from 95 international sports federations, and has input on the distribution of Olympic television revenues.

President of GAISF is the influential Korean, Dr. Un Yong Kim. He seen in world sporting circles as the likely "kingmaker" in next year's race to succeed International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch. Kim is perceived to be the arch-rival of another IOC vice-president, Richard Pound -- who, like McDonald, is a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee.

McDonald is believed to have attracted the ire of Kim by trying to end the ITU's contract with GAISF's official website providers, London-based WorldSport Networks, long before the company went into liquidation in September. Despite existing agreements, the ITU launched a new website, operated by SSM Freesports, just ahead of triathlon's debut at the Olympic Games in Sydney. In the spring, the ITU had signed a television and marketing rights deal with SSM Freesports -- a deal which was disputed by WorldSport.

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No BC judge means no jurisdiction decision

November 16, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

A preliminary hearing that would have determined if the Supreme Court of British Columbia is the proper place for seven federations to have their petition heard against the International Triathlon Union was postponed on Tuesday, because no judge was available to hear the case.

Attorneys for the two sides waited through the morning and afternoon before shaking hands and parting. They agreed to return to court next Monday, Nov. 21.

Both sides indicate they are prepared to argue the full case on Monday and Tuesday, as those were the dates originally set down for the full hearing of the case. That is -- if they are fortunate enough to get a judge on those dates. It is an irritating quirk of Canada's court system that allows for hearings to be scheduled, but because of a backlog of cases, often no judge is available on the appointed hour or even the day.

The ITU had intended to use Tuesday's court appearance to argue that the petitioners' case is a matter for the Court of Arbitration for Sport, rather than Canada's civil courts.

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Federations' court hearing delayed until November 20

November 6, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbiaa

Lawyers for both sides representing six petitioning federations and the International Triathlon Union agreed to postpone a hearing before the Supreme Court of British Columbia about irregularities in the ITU elections in Perth last April.

The attorneys struck a compromise on Monday, when the case was scheduled for a two-day hearing. But when no judge was available -- a not-uncommon occurrence in Canadian courts -- the two sides worked out a procedure to move the case forward.

The hearing is now scheduled for November 20-21. A preliminary hearing for next Tuesday, November 4, will determine whether the Supreme Court is the proper jurisdiction for the case. The ITU maintains that the six petitioning federations -- Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Venezuela -- should be pursuing their cause in the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The ITU's attorney, Ian Giroday of the firm Douglas, Symes & Brissenden, was not prepared to argue the case anyway on Monday, and would have filed an adjournment application to postpone the hearing. The attorney's firm actually broke up in the last few weeks, leaving the lawyer with little time to spend on developing the ITU's case.

"Although we understand that his firm has had some problems lately, we still would have opposed the ITU's application to postpone," said the petitioners' lawyer, Christopher Wilson of the Vancouver firm Bull, Housser & Tupper. "His client (the ITU) was certainly reaping the benefit of any further delay. The ITU took steps to threaten the petitioners with suspension from the ITU, and to undermine the authority of current presidents of various Latin American federations."

The ITU's lawyer has not yet filed his defense with the court, which should happen by Friday, November 17 at the latest. Expected within that are affadavits from ITU president Les McDonald, ITU secretary general Mark Sisson and ITU Credentials Committee member Sheila O'Kelly, plus others.

Even sooner, the two sides are due in court again next Tuesday when the ITU files a motion to challenge the jurisdiction of the case. The ITU favors that the petitioners take their grievance to CAS -- even though CAS limits the cases it hears to those filed within three months of an offense. The elections occurred on April 27 -- more than six months ago.

"Our interest is in getting this case heard as soon as posible," Wilson said. "The petitioners believe that the current ITU executive board is damaging the ITU, and to the sport of triathlon in the world, for that matter."

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Minus Honduras, six federations face ITU in court

November 6, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The ITU faces a legal challenge today in the Supreme Court of British Columbia by six federations that charge the ITU with breaches of its own constitution.

The ITU maintains that because this is a "sporting grievance," the matter should be handled first within ITU's internal channels, followed by taking the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.

The lawsuit stems from the ITU Congress and quadrennial elections in Perth in April, when 12 federations were kept from the room and missed voting. The ITU contends that many of those 12 delegates were represented by proxy votes. Some of them, the ITU says, were Australian citizens who gained credentials to the Congress via false documentation from a few Latin American countries that hadn't sent actual delegates to Perth.

Seven countries took steps to file a petition in July that would, if successful, call for a new election of all ITU officials. In Perth, ITU president Les McDonald defeated challenger Erika Konig-Zenz, 36-22. Had the 12 federations been admitted to Congress, there may have been a different outcome of the presidential vote.

The six countries still behind the lawsuit -- Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Germany, Ireland, Poland and Venezula -- now face suspension from the ITU. They have been ordered to quit their involvement with the court case, or risk the suspension.

The seventh original petitioning country, Honduras, did withdraw from the petition. Said Guillermo Aguilar, secretary of the Honduran federation, on Sunday: "The Executive Board of Honduran Triathlon Federation decided for majority to withdraw the action filed before the Canadian Court. At the same time, we decide to transfer the action before the CAS Arbitration as we sustain our action."

The six countries still at odds with the ITU have been given a 14-day extension -- until November 18 -- to comply with the ITU's request. If they continue with the court proceedings, they face a hearing via conference call at the ITU executive board level.

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ITU threatens 3 European federations with suspension for lawsuit

October 8, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The International Triathlon Union has threatened to suspend the German, Irish and Polish federations if they do not remove themselves from a lawsuit filed in the Supreme Court of British Columbia, Canada.

The German federation is the largest and most prominent of seven federations that have taken the ITU to court over the ITU elections that occurred in April at the ITU's Congress in Perth, Australia.

It was not immediately known if the ITU took similar action -- threatening suspension -- with three of the four other federations that support the petition (Costa Rica, Honduras and Venezuela). Mark Sisson, the ITU general secretary who issued the letter on October 4, said the ITU did not include Cook Islands, the seventh federation on the petition, among the federations that received the letter.

The ITU's decision to threaten Germany and the others with suspension came during the ITU's most recent executive board meeting, September 18 in Sydney, during the Olympics.

Within the letter to Germany, Sisson write: "Unless you withdraw from this lawsuit immediately, your involvement will very likely cause ITU serious financial and other harm over the next few months. Such despicable action will not be tolerated without our otherwise friendly community."

The lawsuit via the courts, Sisson indicated, is in direct violation of the ITU Constitution, which states: "Disputes between the ITU and national federations, which are not settled by Congress, will be submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Any decision taken by the said court shall be without appeal or recourse to ordinary courts, and is binding on the parties concerned."

The seven federations are contesting the validity of the elections, and this letter comes as the latest in a series of hardball moves between the two sides. Credentialed delegates from 12 countries were left outside the congress hall on April 27 -- unable to vote -- after an emergency meeting of the ITU's executive board determined that their credentials, issued the previous evening, were in error. The elections determined the continued presidency of Les McDonald, who defeated Austria's Erika Konig-Zenz, 36-22.

A judge will hear the case on November 6-7.

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ITU plans heavy World Cup schedule for 2001

October 3, 2000, London, England (www.slowtwitch.com):

The preliminary lineup for the International Triathlon Union's proposed scheduld of World Cup events for the 2001 season shows there could be as many as 17 such races in .. countries.

The ITU's sports marketing company, SSM/Freesport of London, announced a provisional calendar in the Olympic Triathlon Media Guide, which circulated in Sydney in mid-September.

That calendar, which takes advantage of five weekends in April, calls for:

- April: I s h i g a k i (JPN) ; G a m a g o r i (JPN) ; K o n a (USA);
Lake Havasu, Arizon a (USA); St. Petersburg, Florida (USA).
- May: Rennes (FRA).
- June: Marseille (FRA).
- July: Toronto (CAN); Kelowna, British Columbia (CAN); Corner Brook,
Newfoundland (CAN).
- August: Yamaguchi (JPN); Tiszaujvaros (HUN); Lausanne (SUI).
- September: Palermo (ITA).
- October: Sydney (AUS); Cancun (MEX), Rio de Janeiro (BRA).

Dates are still being slotted in and switched, so the above is considered very tentative. The high-level schedule also includes World Championships in Edmonton, Canada, on July 21-22, and Fredericia, Denmark, on August 4.

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ITU lawyer asks federations for more time to respond

September 15, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

The lawyer representing the International Triathlon Union in the petition filed by seven federations against the ITU Congress proceedings in April, has asked for more time to prepare a response.

The ITU's response was due in the Supreme Court of British Columbia today (Friday), but the lawyer communicated that the ITU is currently, and understandably, completely focused on the weekend's Olympic triathlons.

The lawyer representing the federations, Christopher Wilson, has granted the ITU another two weeks from September 15, the original deadline that the court had set out for the ITU's formal response. The federations, which are calling for the voidance of the elections, filed their amended petition on August 16.

The October 2-3 dates for a hearing had been agreed by the court and the two parties. However, that is likely to now be set back to mid-October.

"The ITU is busy with the Olympics, and their request for more time is not unreasonable," said Wilson, of the Vancouver firm Bull, Housser & Tupper. "But the federations still consider this petition of extreme urgency. They believe the ITU is being mis-run, and the ITU's executive board should not be serving in its present form."

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ITU's Igaya loses his IOC exec-board role

Japan's Chiharu Igaya, who is the International Triathlon Union's vice-president, lost his place as a member of the International Olympic Committee's executive board on Wednesday, when he was defeated in an election for an IOC vice-president's role.

The Associated Press reported that Igaya was beaten by Germany's Thomas Bach, 64-32, for the position vacated by Canada's Dick Pound as part of the IOC's system for rotating board members. The election concluded the IOC's three-day session in advance of the Olympics, which open Friday.

The loss puts Igaya, an IOC member since 1982, off the IOC executive board completely. A silver medalist in skiing in the 1956 Olympics, he had been a member of the IOC's executive board since 1987.

Bach, 46, has been an IOC member since 1991. He had won the fencing team gold medal at the 1976 Olympics. He joins the IOC's three other current vice-presidents, the United States' Anita DeFrantz; Senegal's Keba M'Baye; and Australia's Kevan Gosper.

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ITU's Supreme Court hearing set for Oct 2-3

September 6, 2000, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (www.slowtwitch.com):

Lawyers for the ITU, and for the seven federations petitioning against the ITU over the ITU Congress elections in Perth, have agreed to meet in in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on October 2-3 for the hearing of the petition.

A judge will hear arguments from both sides of the petition, which was originally filed on July 27 on behalf of five federations -- Germany, Poland, Cook Islands, Honduras and Costa Rica. It was amended on August 16, when two more federations, Ireland and Venezuela, joined in the interest of having the election's results voided.

The petitioners contend that the ITU elections were conducted in violation of the ITU Constitution. They are seeking a decision that would result in the ITU calling for an Extraordinary Congress for the purpose of holding new elections and voting on resolutions in accordance with the ITU Constitution.

The case centers around the actions last April 27 in Perth, Australia. There, on the day of the annual ITU Congress and quadrenniel elections, 12 delegates were kept from entering the congress hall. They had been credentialed the evening before, but each of them had their credentials revoked on the morning of Congress, per the decision of the ITU executive board at an emergency, pre-Congress meeting.

With the rest of the delegates not aware that 12 of them weren't among them in the hall, Congress proceded as usual. The most major decision of the day was McDonald's defeat, for the presidency, of Austrian candidate Erika Konig-Zenz, 36-22.

For its part, the ITU will answer to the petition's charges in a formal response to the court on or before September 15. The ITU is expected to argue that it acted properly by not admitting these delegates.

The petition reads, in part: "There were substantial irregularities in the manner in which Congress 2000 was conducted, which McDonald and his supporters calculated to effect the results of the elections. The most important irregularities were as follows: (1) Certain national federations without standing were permitted to vote; (2) Certain national federations with standing were not permitted to vote; (3) The elections were conducted in an unfair manner calculated to effect the results obtained; and (4) The required number of women representatives were not elected."

The 12 countries whose delegates were left standing outside are identified as Chile, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Ireland, Netherlands Antilles, Peru, Poland, Uruguay and Venezuela.

"It should be a very interesting case," said Christopher Wilson, an attorney with the Vancouver firm of Bull, Housser & Tupper, representing the petitioners. "There are some very serious questions about the manner in which the election was conducted. Of course, the ITU will argue that the elections should not be set aside."

The ITU is represented by Ian Giroday of the firm Douglas, Symes & Brissenden. Giroday is the same Vancouver attorney who represented the ITU in the last case filed against it in the Supreme Court of British Columbia. Spencer Smith tried to have his drugs case heard there last year, but his case was dismissed.

Giroday was not available for comment on the case on Thursday. However, ITU Secretary General Mark Sisson was, and

The ITU is expected to file a response to the petition by September 15.

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Michelle Dillon, Aniko Gog get Olympic call-ups

September 6, 2000, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

Great Britain's Michelle Dillon and Hungary's Aniko Gog have been approved by the ITU as last-minute replacements in the women's Olympic race for two others who have stood down with injuries.

Dillon got the call because she was the first Brit in line after Britain's Julie Dibens was announced Tuesday by the British Triathlon Association as a non-starter.

Austria's Jasmine Haemmerle was identified on Wednesday by the ITU as the second woman to pull out with an injury. Because Austria had no additional qualified women -- although it had requested, and was denied, a wildcard for Eva Bramboeck last spring -- the ITU turned back to its points lists to select a fill-in for Haemmerle's position.

That was Hungary's Gog, the ITU's No. 81-ranked triathlete. Just a junior -- she was the bronze medalist in the European Juniors race in July -- Gog now falls in as the youngest female triathlete in the field.

Dillon, ranked No. 47 by the ITU, had been a despondent 9th-place finisher -- and second Brit, behind third-placing Dibens -- at the European Championships, the decisive race to complete the British team. Dillon had flown to Australia with the British team as its first alternate.

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Triathlon Australia may have some surplus Olympic tickets

September 5, 2000, Sydney, Australia (www.slowtwitch.com):

For anyone heading to Sydney next week with the hope of scoring some last-minute tickets to the triathlon events, get in touch with Triathlon Australia -- fast.

Tim Wilson, Triathlon Australia's executive director, has notified state associations that "TA may have a very small surplus of Olympic triathlon tickets available for both the male and female sessions. The triathlon events were the most popular events [outside the opening ceremony and last swimming final] in the first round of ticket sales."

The notice, carried on the Triathlon Victoria website, continues: "Should you be interested in purchasing any tickets for the purchase price of $A65 from TA, please e-mail TriVic (mailto:info@trivic.org.au) with number of tickets required to either the women's or men's race [or both]. In the situation where we receive more interest than tickets available, tickets will be allocated by ballot."