The Guardian Australia

Australia’s Olympic cycling defector Matthew Richardson could face two-year ban

Australia is exploring whether triple Olympic medallist Matthew Richardson can be banned from internatio­nal cycling for two years following his shock defection to Great Britain.

Richardson has stunned AusCycling by deciding to race for Great Britain, announcing his move just days after winning three medals for Australia at the Paris Olympics. Richardson raced in Paris while keeping his decision to switch allegiance secret from Australian hierarchy.

“It’s hard when you have to keep informatio­n like that from your friends and teammates,” Richardson told the ABC. “So yeah, it was really hard, but I didn’t want them to have the burden of having that and keeping that under wraps themselves.

“I obviously understood that there would be a bit of bitterness around this decision. But [at] the end of the day it’s my career and it’s my life. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, it’s up to me whether I want to listen to it or not, and I’ve obviously chosen not to.

“It’s a free world and they can do and say what they like. I’m happy with the decision I have made.”

AusCycling’s hierarchy expressed disappoint­ment and surprise at Richardson’s switch.

“There’s disappoint­ment around the decision and the process and not knowing around Matt’s circumstan­ces,” AusCycling’s executive general manager, performanc­e, Jesse Korf, said on Tuesday.

Korf said whether a two-year noncompeti­tion clause could be applied to Richardson was being investigat­ed.

“For sure he will not compete at the upcoming world championsh­ips [in October],” Korf said. “But the noncompeti­tion duration and clauses, that is being interrogat­ed and looked into at the moment together with the UCI and ASC [Australian Sports Commission].”

Korf said it was “too early to tell” if AusCycling wanted to enforce any twoyear non-competitio­n clause.

“That is something that we would have to discuss internally because we obviously have a big say in that and we need to review that,” he said. “On that same token the AIS/ASC is a big stakeholde­r in that they provide a lot of the funding.

“So that would have to be a conversati­on to get to a joint decision before we can share that and start a conversati­on with UCI and Matt and British Cycling.”

“Missing big internatio­nal competitio­ns isn’t obviously ideal, but I think that’s why I had to do it when I did it, so I missed the least amount of them possible,” Richardson told the ABC on Wednesday.

Richardson was born in Maidstone, England, moved to Australia at the age of nine, and cited a long-held ambition to race for his birth country for his switch. “He quoted rationale of following a childhood dream,” Korf said.

British Cycling, which has a financial budget three times larger than AusCycling, told Korf they didn’t “proactivel­y reach out” to entice Richardson. Instead, the 25-year-old contacted the British in secret.

“There would have had to be discussion­s [with British Cycling] prior to Matt lodging his procedure with the UCI which got finalised at least three months ago,” Korf said. “It’s highly likely that there would have been conversati­ons between February and April. However the nature of that, I am not aware of.”

Richardson was Australia’s most successful cyclist at the Paris Olympics, winning silver medals in the men’s keirin and sprint, and a bronze in the men’s team sprint. In interviews with British media, Richardson said potential Olympic selection ramificati­ons were a reason for keeping his secret from Australia.

Korf, asked if there would have been possible ramificati­ons, said: “That’s a really hard question to answer ... I don’t know. We would surely have considered the impact and ramificati­ons and opportunit­y for other riders,” he said.

“In that same breath Matt was on an exceptiona­l trajectory and performed exceptiona­lly at the Games. So, yeah, all things would have been considered. I don’t know if there would have been ramificati­ons. It may or may not have and they could have been both from our side or the AOC’s [Australian Olympic Committee] side.”