GarryJones

@reqq: Here is a radical idea. Skip the national federations for MTB. The teams seem to be able to fund their riders, the best riders in the world. Why do we need national teams getting in the way twice a year (Europeans and Worlds for us here)? The only team event in the worlds is the road team time trial where riders now ride for their trade team and not for their country. Conflicts arise here about which hotel to stay in and who is paying for the journey and hotel. The Swedes could still cheer for Jenny, just that she would not be in a national jersey. A professional road cyclist values about 15-20 events higher than the Worlds, but within MTB the Worlds are the major goal for most riders. So why not for the team as in Tour de France and other major races? It's not like team sports such as soccer/football or ice hockey where the national teams have weeks together in their national colours.

@mitochris: The SCF and POC have now presented a proposition to the teams involved. Watch this space. http://scf.se/forbundet/2254-2/ Google translate might do it for you, if not, "We and POC love cycling, bla bla bla, therefore POC have given us the possibility to propose a solution to the teams involved".

@reqq: I do not work for the SCF. I am an unpaid elected official who works with cycling in my spare time. Let¨s recap. I am President of the local district federation. The deal was signed in December 2015. At the European Championships in May 2016 Scott allowed her to wear Poc. We - the district where Jenny has grown up - opposed the SCF. I went to the AGM this March year with the agenda of stopping the poc deal. When the plans were announced I turned to the delegates and made it clear what we were voting for. 460 member clubs and 19 other district federations have voting powers. Not a single person in that room agreed with me. We have a democratic organisation with a yearly vote on the plans. To now be told that I should quit my job because I have explained things and how all this came about is a bit much. I could quit as district president, but what would good would that do? I was the only person in that room who did anything about it. It is not easy for an Englishman in a room full of 100 Swedes to stand up and tell them they are wrong. I took exception to the article's attack on Anders Bromee because he is not the one who has voted for the deal. The previous person walked out on his job having not been able to get a clothing deal. Anders was on the national board at the time and quit when offered the office job. He came in and tried very hard with all of the available suppliers. Many different solutions were discussed. In the end we ended up with the poc deal. I was told about this in February 2016. I hit the roof and went ballistic at the board. After a year of protesting we finally came to the AGM of 2017 when we had a chance to break the contract. And it was voted in. I was the only delegate in that room that has actively tried to avoid arriving at the situation we are in today.

@bman33: If truth be told I am the President of the local district federation where Jenny has grown up. Our District opposed the National Federation when the news first broke in February 2016. We are part of a democratic organisation and as such we wondered what the fall out would be from this at the AGM in March of this year. When no other club or district had any objections to this being passed we fell into line, majority rule and all that. UK Cycling was in a bad way in the mid-90's with lots of opinions, multiple governing bodies and lots of bickering. My Grandfather held national UK tandem records in the 1920's but was always at loggerheads with the powers that be. About 20 years ago more people realised that they need to be part of the process if UK Cycling was going to get out of the 19th Century. The results speak for themselves on what has happened in the last 20 years. There has a history of squabbling, discontentment and disarray in Swedish Cycling. Now we are starting to see the signs of a more ground approach to how things are run. Varying opinions are tolerated and discussed in a variety of ways. The fallout of Jennygate has made national news. This very article on Pinkbike is the national sports headline this evening. The Swedish cycling discussion forums are on fire. Three board members, other district presidents,Anders Bromee and myself have taken part in these discussions. There is no name calling or accusations and discussions are open with solid debate on both sides of the argument. I find it refreshing when board members spend time on social media debating this and other questions. The hope I now have is people from around the country will wake up and get involved in the future of Swedish Cycling. I hope they can bring their very valid opinions to the democratic process. There is room for them, the door is open. Pen-pushing? Possibly, but sometimes you need to push pens to get wheels turning. As for the SCF position on this. I can expand. Even if Jenny has had a lot of help from those close to her over the years there has been a complete race program in place for her to take part in. There had to be other riders for her to race against. Some young riders without willing or able parents needed a lot of help from the federation. Somebody had to train and pay for those commissaries, marshals, medics, mc riders, trainers, race organisers, masseurs and mechanics. And it's still going on as the SCF look to finding and raising the Jennys of the future. I can actually understand the arguments behind the POC contract. When faced with POC-deal or no deal what should they have done?

Somehow the national federation has to provide shorts and shirts for every one of their riders when they race for the national team. This includes the men's and women's races in seven different disciplines. The last deal was about to expire and despite months of delicate negotiations with all the available suppliers the only deal they were offered was the one with POC. But to get that they had to agree to helmets, glasses, gloves socks and exclusive rights. The SCF face fines if POC helmets and glasses are not used at national team level. The alternative to signing the deal was no deal. The position of the Swedish Cycling Federation (SCF) is they fund youth training programs and lay the foundation for young cyclists to blossom into professional riders. The deal with POC aids the investment in the next generation. So when riding for the national team they don't feel it's too much to ask that their own sponsor's equipment should be used. The trade teams do not have to fund youth cycling programs and can simply sign the riders the federation have produced without compensation. As the Swedish Cycling Federation paying for their riders and backup team staff to go to the Worlds they feel they are in a good position here. Why should trade teams get the exposure for their products when the riders are on national duty? Even if there has been a tradition of trade teams' helmets and glasses being used it does not mean they had that right. And of course they have not had the cost for those cyclists attending those races where they then received free exposure. According to a board member of the SCF there was an unsuccessful attempt at the UCI Congress to allow trade teams to have the rights for glasses at national level. I understand the trade teams are worried as other nations may now follow Sweden's example. Whilst some people have made comparisons to football players' boots they have forgotten that the boot manufacturers often have to pay vast sums of money to the national football associations. The trade teams have their cyclists for every other race throught the season. Isn't that exposure enough? One would assume trade teams would like to have the added value of having a World Champion on their squad for the coming year. And therefore should not stand in their way. If Jenny had won the Gold Scott could have dressed her is their own equipment for publicity shots with her in their helmets and glasses complete with medal. I attended the AGM of the Swedish Cycling Federation in March 2017. The rules surrounding the national team were presented as part of the plan for 2017. Every delegate was made aware of the implications; that if Scott (and other teams) did not allow Jenny (and other riders) to compete with POC helmets and glasses then Jenny (and others) would not be riding in the World or European championships. The plan won approval with 100 % support without opposition or reservations. So directly (or indirectly by non-attendance) it is actually 460 member clubs and 20 district Federations that stand united behind this in Sweden, (... and not just Mr Bromme as suggested in the article). Jenny's mother club in Sweden did not send a delegate to the meeting. The POC deal can be stopped democratically at the next AGM in March 2018. The AGM is the highest and final decision making organ we have. Any decision made there has to be abided to by the staff and board. For that to happen any Swedish member club can submit a motion for the AGM by December 1st 2017. Then there will be a discussion and a decision. On a final note one has to wonder if the men in charge of the trade teams would have been as harsh on a male Olympic Road Gold Medallist? Garry Jones Cyclist from London, emigrated to Sweden in 1988. Delegate at the 2017 SCF AGM Footnote (question) for Matt Wragg Any reason you did not contact Anders Bromee before you published? Frischknecht makes some pretty damming libellous accusations about Bromee and lays the "blame" solely at his feet. As I bare witness this is not true and were Mr Bromme now to grant an exemption he would be in breech of his own employment contract which locks him down on the plan and decisions taken at the AGM. Has the fact that some of the companies involved in this "on the other side" advertise on pinkbike influenced the decision to publish this one-sided article?