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Speed to head new cycling board

16th September, 2014
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Former world cricket boss Malcolm Speed will head Cycling Australia’s overhauled board as the governing body continues to recover from its financial disaster.

Australia’s peak cycling body also announced on Tuesday a $2 million recapitalisation loan, featuring $1.5 million from the Australian Sports Commission.

The last year has featured a major restructure of Cycling Australia’s governance and commercial operations.

Asked how dire CA’s financial state was 12 months ago, outgoing president Gerry Ryan said on Tuesday: “if it was a private business, it would no longer be operating”.

ASC chairman John Wylie said the interest-bearing loan, to be paid back in five to seven years, would feature strict conditions.

“The ASC determined that the most effective way of protecting the sport’s strongest assets, its high performance athletes and mass public appeal was to grant the existing organisation a loan on the condition it continues its reform agenda,” Wylie said.

“The (conditions include) the co-contribution by the sports member states, complete governance overhaul, and ongoing financial oversight of the high performance program by the AIS.”

Ryan took over as president late last year and former top AFL official Adrian Anderson became interim chief executive.

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Anderson left in May after overseeing major reforms to how the body is run.

Now a nominations committee, chaired by CA patron Peter Bartels, has recommended a board from about 100 applicants.

“Pleasingly under Gerry Ryan’s leadership, impressive governance reform has already been achieved and today’s full board announcement provides further evidence of the sport’s willingness to change,” Wylie said.

Speed is the former Cricket Australia and International Cricket Council chief executive.

Ryan, the successful Melbourne businessman who owns the Orica-GreenEDGE cycling team, will remain as a board member.

Former WNBL chief executive Leanne Grantham, ex-Saatchi and Saatchi chief executive David Ansell, corporate advisor Matt Dever, commercial lawyer Linda Evans, financial markets expert Anthony Griffin and media lawyer Justin Quill are the new board members.

It is a radical shift away from CA’s old board structure, which featured directors with extensive experience in the sport at all levels.

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CA are yet to appoint a new chief executive.

As recently as this month, CA were also still restructuring their problem-plagued marketing department.

CA fell into financial crisis when a joint commercial venture, which was supposed to capitalise on the sport’s ongoing boom in popularity, backfired badly.

The other $500,000 of CA’s loan will come from their member states and Mountain Bike Australia.

Speed will take over the presidency on a three-year term.

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