The UCI has confirmed to rights groups on 9 August that the controversial Bahrain WorldTour team has not applied for formal registration yet, with the deadline for applications Monday, 15 August. Rights groups have publicly called for the UCI to deny the team a WorldTour license.
“Although we are glad to learn no application was officially submitted to the UCI, we reiterate that the only way to safeguard the integrity of the sport is for the UCI to reject any application from the Bahrain team,” Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, Director of Advocacy for the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said in a statement.
“It is appalling to see Merida sponsor the team, despite all the human rights and ethical problems being brought to their attention.”
The new Bahrain-Merida team is headed by Prince Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, but has been controversial, with allegations of human rights violations relating to torture levied against him.
In July, the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD) and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) wrote to fifteen sponsors of world cycling, including Merida, who have now publicly backed the team, alerting them to concerns over the human rights questions in the Prince’s past.
Sponsor BMC Switzerland confirmed in July that they had been indirectly approached to sponsor the Bahrain team, but had rejected to do so.
