The British Cycling Chief Executive has left the organisation following controversy surrounding the recent Shell sponsorship.
Brian Facer, who has led British Cycling since January last year, has quit with immediate effect and is replaced by Cycling Delivery Director, Danielle Every, on an interim basis.
British Cycling Chair, Frank Slevin, said: “We remain fully committed to the delivery of our ‘Lead our sport, inspire our communities’ strategy, as we continue our work to support and grow our sport and wider activities, and provide our Great Britain Cycling Team riders with the best possible platform for success.
“Our new CEO will join the organisation at an exciting time as we build towards next year’s inaugural UCI Cycling World Championships in Scotland, and the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024.”
The governing body outlined that Facer’s departure was by mutual agreement and that it maintained its ‘unwavering commitment’ to its commercial partners and specifically named new sponsor Shell.
The Shell sponsorship, announced last month, received numerous complaints from the cycling community, prominently on social media, in regards to the ‘huge links’ the company’s products have with climate change and environmental damage.
British Cycling was slammed over its decision – which was described variously as ‘stupefying’, ‘disastrous’ and even ‘cynical’ – as many showed their disapproval by removing their memberships and trashing their cards.
