British Cycling now under fire on three fronts

UK SPORT are set to spring a surprise today by publishing three reports into the crisis at British Cycling, including a ‘special report into alleged financial impropriety’. The long-awaited independent review into the under-fire governing body will be published, as will the 2012 King Report that first raised concerns about the culture of British Cycling. But Sportsmail understands there will be a third report into issues surrounding the organisation’s finances that first surfaced in the draft report that was leaked to this newspaper in March. It could lead to yet more turmoil in the sport, with Jess Varnish set to consider legal action over her dismissal from British Cycling if the independent review into the governing body is as damning as the leaked draft report. As Sportsmail revealed in March, the independent panel led by Annamarie Phelps accused the British Cycling board of ‘sanitising’ the investigation into Varnish’s discrimination allegations against former technical director Shane Sutton and ‘reversing’ the findings of grievance officer Alex Russell. The draft report described the board’s handling of the process as ‘inept’ and said there was a ‘culture of fear’ in the organisation. Varnish responded by calling for the board to resign and, while a new code of governance will force the majority of those directors to step down anyway, it is unlikely to stop the 26-year-old World Championship medallist from legally challenging the decisions that led to her being removed from the World Class Programme ahead of last year’s Olympics.