Hein Verbruggen

[the big ring]

I don't even know how I stumbled across this. I have 8+ tabs open at a time and follow links.

There's a few threads re: Verbruggen, but am starting this in a similar vein to the Kerrison thread. It's Hein-specific / subject agnostic.

I found a bomb shell. The author is Martin Hardie (Australian lecturer at Deakin University).

http://translate.google.com/transla.../2011/10/07/actualidad/1317972122_850215.html

Verbruggen SA: Dracula in charge of a blood bank

The last day of the Play the Game conference in Cologne, Germany, focused on the issue of governance (political concept that refers to what might be called rules of good governance), honesty and transparency in sport.
...
Ingrid Beutler, apparently an intelligent, honest, determined, directed Honesty Unit of Sport Accord, an international organization formed by the international federations Olympic and non-Olympic. Beutler's task is therefore to end corruption in sport and bring good governance and honesty in the administration of sport. He began his talk by recalling that could not say anything he wanted because of the sensitivity of his position. Remained high guard with a refined language UN diplomat and the determination of a veteran lawyer. It seems to take his task with ingenuity. Know where he is. What we have in hand. Your first objective is match-fixing and illegal betting before facing tougher and complicated matters.
...
Beutler['s] chief and president of Sport Accord is DON Hein Verbruggen, the godfather of international cycling and, besides president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and former member of the IOC, the pattern of many.

To describe the situation, Beutler said good governance in sport "is a mess". "There is much work ahead," he said. "Sports do not understand what good governance is." And to say it's like describing your own pattern, Verbruggen, Verbruggen the same that, many say, has his finger in many pies financial and business ties, at least, represent a serious conflict of interest. Verbruggen himself is involved in an ongoing investigation of Lance Armstrong United States, for allegedly accepting checks from Texas to plug a doping case. Verbruggen himself now, in his new avatar, leads the charge against corruption in sport.

Dracula in charge of a blood bank, the fox in charge of the henhouse. The new world order of good governance in sport offered courtesy of Verbruggen. The only issue could be more surreal if Blatter had that job. Irony, irony, Conrad could have said.

...
During the last session of Play the Game panel was asked how much faith you could take to clean up the sport governance organization led by Verbruggen sports federations. The answer was silence, broken only by Richard Pound. "I think the silence of the panel means that we share your confidence," he said.
...
Pound may have hit the nail on the head when he said, one day: "I have suffered censorship by IOC simply unfavorable judgments about Lance Armstrong, which obviously is a far more serious crime than corruption in sport".

Blatter - probably Sepp Blatter of FIFA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepp_Blatter


So many paragraphs I apologise for C&P so much of the article but it was too intense to leave out of the discussion.

 

[the big ring]

This is where I found the original article:

http://www.newcyclingpathway.com/ne...ld-like-to-recall-the-message-el-pais-article

From: Hein Verbruggen <Hein.Verbruggen@sportaccord.com>
Date: Tue, 29 Nov 2011 09:19:50 +0100
To: Martin Hardie <martin.hardie@deakin.edu.au>
Cc: Vincent Gaillard <Vincent.Gaillard@sportaccord.com>, Ingrid Beutler <Ingrid.Beutler@sportaccord.com>, Hein Verbruggen <Hein.Verbruggen@sportaccord.com>
Subject: El Pais article

Dear Mr. Hardie,

I refer to an article you have recently written published at: http://www.elpais.com/articulo/depo...nco/sangre/elpepudep/20111007elpepudep_11/Tes
Allow me to express my anger and disappointment that you, as a Lecturer at the Deakin University of Australia have bowed so low as to publish such unfounded comments. You state that ‘Y al decirlo es como si describiera a su propio patrón, a Verbruggen, al mismo Verbruggen que, muchos dicen, tiene su dedo en muchos pasteles financieros y vínculos de negocios que, como poco, suponen un grave conflicto de intereses.’ [And to say it's like describing your own pattern, Verbruggen, Verbruggen the same that, many say, has his finger in many pies financial and business ties, at least, represent a serious conflict of interest] As an academic, such unfounded claims of conflicts of interest without any proof, based solely on rumours, show a profound lack of professionalism on your part.

Having never met you personally, your accusations are defamatory and I would warn you to exercise restraint and journalistic professionalism in your research prior to publishing further such claims. While I do not aim to defend myself here, you should be aware that I have fought to uphold the standards of transparent and ethical practices in doping eradication both during my time as President of the UCI and now as President of SportAccord. I have enabled and driven my organisation’s dedicated focus to combating match-fixing and to establishing good governance in sport.

My disappointment is profound, but trust that in the future your publications pronounce fact and not fiction and serve to benefit those who are working so hard to ensure good governance in sport.

Yours sincerely,
Hein Verbruggen

And the killer:

On 29/11/11 7:31 PM, “Hein Verbruggen”<Hein.Verbruggen@sportaccord.com> wrote:

Hein Verbruggen would like to recall the message, “El Pais article”.

Bahahahahhahahahah NO. PWNT. You corrupt individual. PWNT into the ground.

 

[the big ring]

It is my contention that what Hardie wrote, and Hein's response to that, must surely, somehow, be useful for Kimmage's case.

 

[RichWalk]

It is my contention that what Hardie wrote, and Hein's response to that, must surely, somehow, be useful for Kimmage's case.

This case must have strong overtones of 'lets discredit the man who holds many cards against us' otherwise their actions are bewilderingly stupid.

 

[Tinman]

Exactly what we are referring to in the open letter to Pat. It's not just doping, it's allegations of financial irregularities, conflict of interest positions, exerting undue influence, etc. Under their reign it's become a much worse situation than before.

 

[thirteen]

Blatter - probably Sepp Blatter of FIFA. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sepp_Blatter

i know this is a very serious matter, but i still can't help but crack up every time Spepp Blatter is mentioned after seeing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgS0c4rZBo

 

[the big ring]

i know this is a very serious matter, but i still can't help but crack up every time Spepp Blatter is mentioned after seeing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAgS0c4rZBo

There's a few good Step Ladder er Sepp Blatter videos there.

 

[thirteen]

There's a few good Step Ladder er Sepp Blatter videos there.

i know... but, as i actually saw this live on the telly, it just hit home... whenever watching F1 and his name is mentioned, i giggle... was just surprised that even seeing it in print did the same.

anyways, sorry to derail.

it is an excellent thread, very informative, and thank you for starting it.

i do hate Hein!

 

[Tinman]

WADA funding Hein's SportAccord for admin & salaries...

from WADA director General's report, WADA meeting minutes Nov 2011

http://www.wada-ama.org/Documents/A...tes/WADA_ExCo_Minutes_19Nov2011_ENG_FINAL.pdf

"ANADO (ed. Assoc of Nat. Anti Doping Agencies) had not yet wound up; it had legal steps to take before completion. There had been no change to the payment out that would be received by those who were owed money, and he had circulated a list of those after the meeting in September. More than 900,000 dollars would not be available to anti-doping as a result. What had arisen was an objective from some of the NADOs to form a new body, described in their draft papers as the Institute for National Anti-Doping Agencies. They had held a meeting in Paris the previous weekend. They had shared with WADA the draft of their objectives; they intended to run an organisation more like some of the collective organisations under the sports movement, with a CEO or a secretary general and a part-time or other assistant.
They were looking for contributions towards that; WADA had had informal discussions with them along the lines that WADA might be prepared to consider funding in the same way as it had funded SportAccord (it provided 160,000 Swiss francs annually to SportAccord under certain conditions that had been followed very properly by SportAccord, to the benefit of all concerned). He saw the same sorts of benefits going to the NADOs if a similar structure could be put into place. He asked for approval to pursue discussions with the new body once it came into place on the basis that WADA could consider funding under certain conditions, and he suggested that those funds and conditions be approved along the lines of the same agreement that WADA had with SportAccord. He thought that the organisation would be asking for some form of contribution to set it up early in the New Year. WADA provided the money to SportAccord on the basis that it was not to be spent for doping tests (it was to be spent only on overheads in relation to the operation of the unit, which included the salaries of those employed by SportAccord) and that WADA had a position as an advisory member of its committee and received audited reports from the body in relation to its activities."

 

[Tinman]

SportAccord does "doping-free sport activity" also.

http://www.sportaccord.com/en/what-we-do/doping-free-sport/

These sports organizations are one big mess of spaghetti. All sorts of organizations, with member cross representation, overlapping responsibilities, etc etc. Transparency and accountability almost non-existent...

 

[the big ring]

SportAccord does "doping-free sport activity" also.

http://www.sportaccord.com/en/what-we-do/doping-free-sport/

These sports organizations are one big mess of spaghetti. All sorts of organizations, with member cross representation, overlapping responsibilities, etc etc. Transparency and accountability almost non-existent...

Reminds me of the Tailwind / CSE / Mellow Johnnies / MJ Aviation / LAF / Thomas Weisel Foundation / etc mess of companies. Incestuous cesspit.

 

[the big ring]

WADA funding Hein's SportAccord for admin & salaries...

Which reminds me - I was going to have a look at those minutes. Must do that soon.

 

[Tinman]

Which reminds me - I was going to have a look at those minutes. Must do that soon.

There's a bunch of info in there that can be correlated with observations we had about doping incidents in races, UCI behaviour, etc. Fahey is doing a great job minuting his org's meetings AND making these available.

Eg. every meeting he starts asking whether members want to declare conflict of interests!

What many of the old boys don't yet seem to realize is that the world has changed (except maybe in African countries and other dictator environments). It's now all about transparency and accountability. The internet is a powerful facilitator of information to a much wider group of people. Flying under the radar is no longer acceptable and much harder now.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

This is where I found the original article:

http://www.newcyclingpathway.com/ne...ld-like-to-recall-the-message-el-pais-article



And the killer:


Bahahahahhahahahah NO. PWNT. You corrupt individual. PWNT into the ground.

I'm missing something. What does the second quote show? Hein went after the journalist who called him out, then redacted his comment?

 

[the big ring]

I'm missing something. What does the second quote show? Hein went after the journalist who called him out, then redacted his comment?

Essentially yes. Attempted deletion. (Redaction means something else?)

He sent an email - that was the email in its entirety.

Now someone, somewhere, working back in the 70's when email was stored on the server then forwarded to the recipient, implemented a "recall" SMTP protocol command. Essentially you send the command and the server would check for the message and if it was there, not send it. If already sent, it was meant, I think to delete the email (ie from the recipient's computer).

If you are using Microsoft exchange, etc, I think it may have worked at one stage, but I have never seen it work. (google "SMTP recall" for more info).

So he sent an email at 10 in the morning, then had a change of heart that night and tried to recall ie "unsend" the email.

Fortunately, the Interwebs has not worked that way for some time.

 

[More Strides than Rides]

Essentially yes. Attempted deletion. (Redaction means something else?)

He sent an email - that was the email in its entirety.

Now someone, somewhere, working back in the 70's when email was stored on the server then forwarded to the recipient, implemented a "recall" SMTP protocol command. Essentially you send the command and the server would check for the message and if it was there, not send it. If already sent, it was meant, I think to delete the email (ie from the recipient's computer).

If you are using Microsoft exchange, etc, I think it may have worked at one stage, but I have never seen it work. (google "SMTP recall" for more info).

So he sent an email at 10 in the morning, then had a change of heart that night and tried to recall ie "unsend" the email.

Fortunately, the Interwebs has not worked that way for some time.

Okay, thanks. Wonder what happened in 10 hours to make him change his mind

 

[the big ring]

Okay, thanks. Wonder what happened in 10 hours to make him change his mind

I was thinking maybe he had just found out (which still fits), gone a bit nutso, fired off a heated email, then realised the tone of the email and after cooling off for the day, decided it was possibly a bit strongly worded and tried to undo it.

The El Pais article was October 7th and the email did not get sent till November 29th, so there's a big lag there where a thoughtful response could have been constructed.

 

[Mishrak]

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/verbruggen-wont-take-legal-action-against-hamilton

"You should. God dammit. You're here with your microphone embarrassing me with all types of questions. I'm mad at people like you. You don't even do your homework. Is he only controlled by the UCI, he's controlled by other bodies. Am I entitled to be upset? You can write that. I wonder. You don't know the rules. That's upsetting for me. I'm 72 and I don't need lessons from people like that. You don't do your bloody homework. I know he's been tested. Yes. You should bloody well know; I hope to see that you write that. 'We as journalists don't do our homework'."


I think he's a bit mad. If he was British, would he call them ****ers?

 

[the big ring]

Ok. New theory. Keeping in mind that email was sent November 2011. So 10 months ago.

This guy Hein is a basket case.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/verbruggen-wont-take-legal-action-against-hamilton

"You should. God dammit. You're here with your microphone embarrassing me with all types of questions. I'm mad at people like you. You don't even do your homework. Is he only controlled by the UCI, he's controlled by other bodies. Am I entitled to be upset? You can write that. I wonder. You don't know the rules. That's upsetting for me. I'm 72 and I don't need lessons from people like that. You don't do your bloody homework. I know he's been tested. Yes. You should bloody well know; I hope to see that you write that. 'We as journalists don't do our homework'."

ETA: hahahahaah mishrak. Chapeau!

 

[dsut4392]

Okay, thanks. Wonder what happened in 10 hours to make him change his mind

More likely that the two messages are showing time stamps from different time zones, and there was only 11 minutes between sending the original and the recall attempt. i.e. "09:19:50 +0100" is European time (UTC +0100), which would be 7.19pm at Deakin university (UTC +1100 when EDT is in effect).

 

[D-Queued]

Ok. New theory. Keeping in mind that email was sent November 2011. So 10 months ago.

This guy Hein is a basket case.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/verbruggen-wont-take-legal-action-against-hamilton


ETA: hahahahaah mishrak. Chapeau!

Thank you CN.

Yes, a complete basket case who is competing with Lance for the title of 'Biggest Liar'.

Right after Phat confirmed a much smaller number of tests, Hein winds it back up to over 500.

I sure hope Kimmage can use that as evidence.

Dave.

 

[the big ring]

More likely that the two messages are showing time stamps from different time zones, and there was only 11 minutes between sending the original and the recall attempt. i.e. "09:19:50 +0100" is European time (UTC +0100), which would be 7.19pm at Deakin university (UTC +1100 when EDT is in effect).

Nicely spotted. And much more plausible.

I save drafts of heated emails these days, and discipline myself to send them the next day - if at all. Works much more reliably than an email recall

 

[The Gnome]

Hard to believe this guy isn't in some home with a team of soup and sponge bath nurses...the hilarious doddering old man of cycling yore...I love this: anyone who says the UCI have "not done our best is sued. Simple"...

we sue everyone...simple.

"you, you over there with the tape recorder and giant rabbit head...I sue you..."

 

[rata de sentina]

Okay, thanks. Wonder what happened in 10 hours to make him change his mind

Sobered up?
Found his medication?

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Reading all that makes me sick to think he was (is) the head of the sport for so damned long. As far as I am concerned, Hein is a self-serving despicable gasbag of a human being.

Go ahead, sue me.