Authors accused of watering down bullying claims in British Cycling report

Jess Varnish
Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

The authors of the independent report into British Cycling face accusations of a whitewash after a heavily watered‑down version was published in London this morning.

Fourteen months after the investigation began, the revised report still referred to “a culture of fear” at British Cycling but previous references to bullying were removed.

The initial report was leaked to a newspaper in March. Within, British Cycling’s board were accused of sanitising their own internal report into allegations of bullying, sexism and discrimination by Jess Varnish.

They were also accused by the five-person commission, led by GB Rowing chair Annamarie Phelps, of not being fit to govern and the handling of Varnish’s complaint was said to be “at best inept”.

But in the heavily redacted report made public today at the Bloomsbury offices of UK Sport — who jointly commissioned the report — the wording had been heavily revised and cut back by seven pages.

In addition, the only reference to bullying appeared in the previous King Report into practices at British Cycling back in 2012.

But Phelps said: “I don’t believe it’s a whitewash. I think it’s a strong report with some strong criticisms and strong recommendations.”

There was also a shift in tone. The leaked report had stated there “was and remains a culture of fear”. In contrast, today’s findings said “many staff members referred to a culture of fear”.

Shane Sutton, who resigned as the head of British Cycling’s track programme after the bullying row with Varnish (below), has continued to deny any wrongdoing.

But among the 108 written contributions to the report and 45 interviews, it was claimed he had referred to the female riders on the programme as “Sheilas” and “bitches”. In addition, it was claimed he called Paralympic riders within the team “f***ing wobblies and gimps”.

UK Sport chief executive Liz Nicholl admitted her organisation should have done more to keep British Cycling in check.

But she countered: “Any suggestion UK Sport is about a winning at‑all‑costs approach is disturbing and wrong. It never has been and never will be but the drive to be the best in the world may have contributed to some unacceptable behaviour.”

Also published for the first time was the King Report from five years ago, which spoke of a “dictatorial” regime and “a culture of fear”.

A third report — a financial audit by Moore Stephens — was also published into allegations of possible financial impropriety by members of the British Cycling set-up.

But that found “no evidence of fraud or corruption or misuse of

UK Sport funds” and there was “no evidence to substantiate the allegation that UK Sport-funded equipment had been stolen and sold for personal gain by an employee of British Cycling”.

But the key theme of the three separate reports is their sanitised nature. There had been rumours prior to publication that the main report would be heavily revised.

Varnish’s lawyer has previously threatened legal action, while both Sutton and his former boss at British Cycling, Dave Brailsford, had both previously sought legal counsel.

Varnish had claimed Sutton had told her to “get on with having a baby” after being axed from funding just before last year’s Rio Olympics.

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