Cycling journalist believes governing body blocked him from world championships for critical reporting
A respected cycling journalist who was twice blocked from attending the Wollongong world cycling championships believes he has been blacklisted for reporting on the governing body’s links to a notoriously repressive regime and a Russian billionaire under sanctions.
Investigative journalist Iain Treloar’s recent reporting has posed uncomfortable questions for the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) – the powerful governing body for world cycling.
Treloar has probed the influence of Russian billionaire Igor Makarov, who has retained his position on UCI’s management committee despite being subject to sanctions from Australia and Canada over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He examined the UCI’s friendly relationship with Turkmen autocrat and former president Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who led a regime that Human Rights Watch condemned as “extremely repressive”. Treloar also investigated the exploitation of a scheme set up by the UCI to help cyclists in Afghanistan flee the Taliban.
Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning
Treloar and three colleagues at specialist publication CyclingTips applied for accreditation earlier this month for the 2022 road world championships in Wollongong which concludes this weekend.
His three colleagues had their accreditation approved but Treloar’s application was denied.
The UCI said it blocked Treloar from attending due to the high demand from international and local media. It said it had applied its rule limiting accreditation to three reporters from each outlet.
The event’s press centre – set up in Wollongong’s indoor arena – has capacity for hundreds of journalists and photos have shown it near-empty at times this week.
Treloar said he
