Kazakh team confirms application for cycling’s top table
The Astana team has released a statement in response to its omission from the list of teams applying for ProTeam status for 2011 released by the International Cycling Union (UCI) today. The Kazakh-sponsored team, which currently boasts Tour de France winner Alberto Contador on its roster, was included in the list of teams released in mid-August, but its name has since been removed.
UCI Chief Press Officer Enrico Carpani told Velonation that it was assumed that Astana, as well as Pegasus Sports, the other surprise omission from the list, would be completing its application later; the statement from the team confirms this.
“The Astana team announces that it is not on the list of teams selected to the Pro-Tour only temporarily,” the statement reads, “because of a too short period for submission of bank guarantee, which will be forwarded to the UCI headquarters in the coming hours.”
In order to become eligible for the renewal of a ProTeam license each team must submit an application file, which includes: the team’s budget, the sponsorship contracts, contracts with at least 12 riders, and a bank guarantee. The latter item, the bank guarantee, is one of the most important as it is held by the UCI in order to protect the salaries of the staff and riders of a team in the event of it folding; this is what the Astana team has yet to provide.
Astana has often been beset by financial issues; the most high profile of which was in May 2009 when it emerged that riders had not been paid for a number of months. It transpired that a number of the team’s Kazakh backers had not paid their sponsorship money; the team rode a number of races in a special edition kit with the names of those sponsors faded out. The money came through at the eleventh hour, preventing the team from disappearing on the eve of the Giro d’Italia.
There is no suggestion that there are any financial issues this time though, only that the initial deadline was a little too soon to raise the cash.