An expert panel has been assembled to lead the independent review into the culture within British Cycling’s World Class Programme.

Annamarie Phelps, the Chair of the independent review, jointly commissioned by UK Sport and British Cycling, has appointed three individuals with a range of professional skills and experience of high performance sport, including a former athlete.

The confirmed review panel members are:

• Stuart Lancaster: Trained as a PE teacher before he became a Rugby Union player with Leeds RUFC. After retiring from playing he ran the Leeds academy for five years and coached Leeds Carnegie. Stuart was appointed head of Elite Player Development for the Rugby Football Union in 2007 and was England Head Coach and Head of International Rugby Department from 2011-2015.

• John Mehrzad:  Barrister of England and Wales and a practising tenant at Littleton Chambers in Temple, London, where he is Head of its Sports Law Group. He specialises in Sports, Employment and Commercial law, being awarded ACQ Global Sports Law Barrister of the Year in 2015 and again in 2016.  He is an independent chairman of the FA Chairman’s Anti-Discrimination Panel, has acted as an independent FA Rule K Arbitrator, was selected as an advocate to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games and also the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, is a member of the Sport Resolutions UK’s Independent Panel of Barristers, and was appointed to the Panel of Counsel for the Equality and Human Rights Commission between 2011-2015.

• Annie Panter: A former athlete who competed in the Beijing and London Olympic Games winning a bronze medal in 2012 with the GB women’s hockey team. Now retired from hockey, Annie is pursuing a career as a convertible bond trader with Goldman Sachs whilst maintaining her involvement in sport through positions on the UK Sport Mission 2016 Panel as an independent athlete member and her recent appointment to Co-Chair of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Athletes’ Committee.

One final panel member is still to be confirmed and there is also the option to bring in additional expertise once all the submissions have been reviewed.

Sport Resolutions UK, the independent, not-for-profit, dispute resolution service, will administer the review.

Annamarie Phelps said: “This expert panel has the range of skills and experience to enable us to conduct a thorough and robust review.

“The panel will work swiftly and diligently to assess the evidence and compile a report in the interest of the sport.

“I would encourage anyone still considering making a submission to do so, in complete confidence, to Sport Resolutions UK.”

A Commissioning Board will also be established comprising Marian Lauder MBE, Non-Executive Director of British Cycling, and Liz Nicholl, CEO of UK Sport, to ensure the panel is supported in its work.
Submissions have already been received and the review will get underway immediately and conclude following the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games, to minimise the disruption to British Cycling’s final preparations for Rio, while allowing athletes and support personnel the opportunity to play a full role in the review.

The panel will provide a report to British Cycling and UK Sport on its findings and recommendations arising from the review.

These will be published by both UK Sport and British Cycling (ensuring confidentiality for those who have provided information and contributed to the review).

If anyone has information they wish to provide confidentially to the review they can email: cir@sportresolutions.co.uk

The independent review Terms of Reference can be found here.