Newsletter 01
10 November 2023
This monthly update serves to maintain the members of WARA and other interests parties aware of the activities of WARA. WARA serves as the voice for riders’ agents and defends their interests in the international sector of cycling.
Content of included in this update:
WARA Foundation
WARA Board Meeting
WARA Presentation of Tour and Meeting with CPA
WARA Meeting with UCI on 16 November 2023
WARA Topics for Discussion (QS/JV - Teams initiative - Dutch labour law reform)
Agenda
1. WARA Foundation
The Board of WARA consists of Philippe Raimbaud, as president, and Alex Carrera, Christopher Langer, Dries de Smet and Ken Sommer as board members. BMDW Advocaten, a specialized sports law firm in the Netherlands, supports WARA’s day to day activities. WARA is an association in accordance with the laws of Switzerland and based in Chiasso. Information about the membership of WARA can be found here. There is already a landing page online but this shall be adjusted in order for it to be made available to the general public.
2. WARA Board Meeting
On 16 October a first official WARA Board meeting took place online, followed by a live meeting during the presentation of the Tour de France 2024 in Paris. The Board meetings of WARA shall follow a fixed structure where a rolling agenda shall be adapted per individual meeting. The meetings’ result is laid down in action points and these shall be placed on the agenda for the next meeting. In the meeting of 16 October the Board has laid down a framework for the modus operandi on the level of the Board and for the follow-up of action points; initiated a planning for meetings with stakeholders and some administrative points of attention. During the general assembly meetings, of which the first shall take place in 2024 and about which you shall be informed, a report of all the follow-up of the action points shall be shared.
3. WARA present at the presentation of the Tour de France 2024 and informal meeting with CPA
The members of the board Dries SMETS and Philippe RAIMBAUD took advantage of the presentation of the Tour de France in Paris to have an informal meeting with those responsible for the CPA: its president Adam HANSEN, but also Laura MORA, Pascal CHANTEUR and Xavier JAN.
The representative organization of riders aims to coordinate regularly with WARA, in order to be able to influence developments in cycling, for the benefit of riders. The CPA hopes that we can work together to create the conditions for effective dialogue with the teams, organizers and the UCI. Especially in the light of ‘Vision 2030’ of the UCI, this is an important step forward and it is welcomed cordially by WARA.
4. WARA Meeting with UCI on 16 november 2023
On 16 November 2023 WARA has been invited, after WARA had introduced itself, by the UCI to their Headquarters in Aigle, Switzerland. The meeting serves to formally introduce both organizations to each other and to, for the first time in history, officially offer a channeled voice of agents to be included in the decision making process of relevant UCI regulations and policies. The individuals that represent the board, including the President of WARA, hold good relations with the UCI and this has led to a welcoming approach from the sports governing body.
WARA is committed to persuading the UCI to guarantee top-level access for cycling agents to important events and discussions. Furthermore, WARA is committed to protect the agent’s interest when and insofar is necessary as a result of the UCI’s intention of regulating the industry. The approach between both organizations comes at an interesting time for cycling, as initiatives for reform are paired with industry developments beyond the scope of UCI regulations, such as national employment legislation changes. WARA shall make these issues a topic for discussion too and looks to get an official status within the UCI.
5. WARA Topics for discussion
This update does not allow to go into a large amount of detail, but it does serve to pinpoint some issues of interest. For example, the impact of the discussion of the possible merger between Soudal Quick-Step and Jumbo Visma generated polemics. Obvious questions around this news were what the impact of UCI regulations was on, for example, sizes of teams and
the impact on employment contracts.
The initiative for this action came from the need for teams to adapt to changes and to best exploit the product that the teams offer. In this sense, a recent reintroduction of the idea of creating a “superleague” for cycling teams, fits the developments. Such an initiative follows other current examples in sport, where the tension between the autonomy of the sports governing bodies and the sport teams can be felt: who is ultimately responsible for organizing the sport and till what extent may a sports governing body limit outside organizations to organize their own competitions. With all the commercial organizers of multi-day road races and classics, the sport of (road)cycling is already different than many
other European sports. However, this initiative can be placed in a development where sports
opens its door for more external investment. The validity of such initiatives is also depending on the outcome of 3(!) pending sport cases before the European Court of Justice, to be expected at the end of 2023 and which shall be included in a following update.
In the Netherlands the Dutch government has recently announced new legislation in relation to employment contracts. The Dutch legislator will limit the possibility of employers to offer fixed term contracts and will limit also continuous use of fixed term contracts even more. It is becoming impossible to conclude ongoing contracts for a determined time as these shall easily convert into contracts of indefinite time with, for employers, strict conditions for termination. This development has a huge impact on cycling and it is expected that the Dutch cycling sector shall react to this development by claiming the need for an exemption to the legislator. When these changes are being implemented exactly is not yet known.
6. Agenda
16 November - WARA meeting UCI
