Australian ex-triathlon chief vindicated by global body
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled World Triathlon's 2024 election involved misconduct. (AP PHOTO) Credit: AAP
Michelle Cooper, the former president of Australia's triathlon governing body, has had her complaint about the World Triathlon 2024 presidential election upheld by the body that arbitrates on legal disputes in global sport.
World Triathlon executive board member Liber Garcia breached the governing body's anti-bribery and anti-corruption policy in the lead-up to the election, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled.
Antonio Fernandez Arimany won the election to succeed fellow Spaniard Marisol Casado as president.
Cooper, who ran for the presidency of the global ruling body, lodged a complaint last year alleging election misconduct.
Uruguayan Garcia, president of Americas Triathlon, was given a warning as the CAS's ruling partially upheld a March 2025 decision by the World Triathlon Tribunal and said a predetermined "favourites list" influenced the outcome of the elections and that some candidates were encouraged to withdraw.
"While I was disappointed the CAS panel reduced (Garcia's) sanction to a warning, the key outcome remains unchanged: misconduct occurred. The finding of guilt stands," Cooper wrote in a LinkedIn post on Monday.
"Sport governance must not become theatre, where ethical breaches are acknowledged but not acted on. We have the ruling. We have the facts. Now we need the action. Let this be the moment we all say: enough."
The verdict comes less than two weeks after the publication of a wide-ranging report on the current state and future of triathlon, which has faced problems due to differing governing bodies, changing formats and struggles for commercial and TV backing.
The report called for creating a unified commercial ecosystem, focusing on festival-style formats and investing in mass participation in the swim-bike-run sport.
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