Each sport has a way of organizing itself. And, furthermore, these systems are constantly changing. The best example is what is happening in football and the creation of large multi-ownership holding companies, that is, companies that have decided to buy many teams in many countries and create a multinational structure. That system is prohibited in professional cycling. Let’s go with it.
The best example of the timeshare system in football is the Manchester City. The team of Pep Guardiola It is part of a structure that has teams like Girona in Spain, but also teams in France, Italy, Belgium, United States, Brazil, Uruguay, Australia, Japan, China, India, Bolivia… In total, there are 13 teams that share the same owner. And the football authorities are not raising many objections and we are seeing situations that are questionable from an ethical point of view, since Manchester City and Girona could even end up facing each other in the Champions League in a duel that would generate a lot of controversy.
But Manchester City’s situation is not unique. In the Premier League there are 20 teams. Well then, a total of 13 have teams in other countries. And what do they use them for? Well, to sign young footballers from other countries who cannot enter England directly due to visa issues. This is how they add quality minutes in Europe and if they succeed, they go directly to the biggest teams.
The International Cycling Unionon the other hand, has a different and reluctant vision of that model. To begin with, it does not accept the creation of teams with the same owner or, at least, it monitors it closely. What’s more, in the registration process of a cycling team it is mandatory to identify all the shareholders who own a team and even the members of the Board of Directors if we are talking about a sports club without shares. And the teams themselves must submit a sworn declaration of independence in their management. In the worst possible case, the existence of two teams with the same owner, the option for them to compete on the roads is possible, but the UCI sets a second limit: if one team is in that race, the other team cannot compete in that same test.
Therefore, cycling teams cannot opt for the timeshare model. The only thing that is accepted in professional cycling is creation of subsidiaries in a lower categorythat is, teams managed by a structure, but which obviously cannot compete in the same race. What’s more, the UCI even accepts that cyclists from the subsidiary team can race from time to time with the big team and the same goes the other way around: the cyclists from the big team can reinforce the subsidiary. What is never accepted is that the big team and its subsidiary run in the same race.
