‘Russian Army’ cycling team takes part in African stage race despite UCI ban, as governing body pulls event from international calendar and launches disciplinary action for inviting banned squad

The UCI has launched disciplinary action against the organisers of the Tour du Faso, and immediately stripped the nine-day African stage race of its UCI licence, pulling it from the international calendar, after a Russian army team took part in the event’s first stage today, despite the governing body warning the organisers against contravening its ban on Russian and Belarusian squads.

The CSKA Moscow squad – which like its football and other sporting counterparts has a historical connection with the Russian Army – was one of the 11 teams who participated in today’s opening stage of the Tour du Faso, Burkina Faso’s biggest cycling race and a UCI 2.2-level stage race, between Koulbila and Tenkodogo.

The UCI has told road.cc that the squad were invited by the Tour du Faso’s organisers “on their own initiative” and that race officials had ignored the governing body’s attempt to prevent them from racing today’s stage, won by Mohcine El Kouraji at the head of a dominant Moroccan 1-2-3.

Last night, local media in Burkina Faso published photos of the CSKA Moscow riders, dressed in their own clothes, at the pre-race team presentation, alongside other teams from across Africa as well as Flanders and the Netherlands. Meanwhile, official race documents heralded the “return of Russia” at the event for the first time in over a decade.

And this morning the team, wearing red, white, and blue jerseys emblazoned with the words ‘Russian Army’, took to the start in Koulbila – despite their presence at the race flying in the face of the UCI’s ongoing ban on Russian and Belarusian teams following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

> Russian and Belarusian cyclists to be allowed to race at world championships and other UCI events as “neutrals”

In March 2022, in response to the invasion, the UCI banned teams representing Russia or Belarus at national level, as well as trade teams registered in the two countries, from all its sanctioned events, a move that led to the demise of the second-tier Gazprom-RusVelo team.

While riders from Russia or Belarus can now compete as “neutral individual athletes” – preventing them from wearing or associating themselves with the flags, emblems, or anthems of Russia or Belarus – sanctions remain in place against teams registered in or obtaining sponsorship by those countries.

After the UCI learnt of the team’s participation, the world governing body sent the organisers a letter calling for them to be banned from competing.

Reports on social media, emanating from the local press and radio stations covering the race, appeared to suggest that CSKA Moscow had been hastily withdrawn at the start line of the 136km stage.

According to a Facebook post from Faso Média 24 before the start, “CSKA Moscow (Russia) is not included in [the race start list] because it is under suspension from the International Cycling Union”.

The report continued: “The president of the race jury who is the representative of the UCI, Algerian Tagrara Mohamad Abdoula, promised to provide clarification on the CSKA case after the first stage.”

However, video from the finish line posted by the race’s social media account clearly shows CSKA riders finishing the stage.

And now, the UCI has launched disciplinary proceedings against the Tour du Faso for allowing the Russian team to take part, while also immediately removing the 2.2 race from the international calendar with immediate effect.

“The organisers of the Tour du Faso, a Class 2 event on the UCI International Calendar, invited the Russian team CSKA Moscou on their own initiative, without first notifying the UCI,” a spokesperson for the governing body told road.cc in a statement on Friday afternoon.

“After being informed of this, the UCI immediately sent the organisers an official letter asking them to ban the team from participating, in application of the Ad Hoc UCI Regulations on measures against Russia and Belarus.

“However, despite this directive, the team took part in the race this morning.

“As a result, the UCI has immediately withdrawn the event from the UCI International Calendar and shall now decide on disciplinary action in relation to the team’s participation. No further comment will be made on this matter for the time being.”

CSKA Moscow’s illegal participation in the Tour du Faso comes weeks after Burkina Faso’s prime minister Apollinaire J. Kyélem de Tambèla met with Russia’s defence minister Andrei Belousov to discuss expanding military ties.

In June, Russia said it was sending additional military supplies and instructors to Burkina Faso to help the west African country, currently governed by a military junta, boost its defence capabilities and fight terrorism.