article_snippet: (CNN)Cycling's international governing body for a long time failed to tackle widespread and well-known doping problems in the sport and gave special treatment to Armstrong, according to a damning new report.
article_snippet: the investigation slams the way the world body -- the International Cycling Union, or UCI -- operated over a lengthy period and calls for a series of changes to the Cycling Independent Reform Commission (CIRC) governance.
article_snippet: Under Cookson, UCI UCI set up the independent three-person commission to investigate the causes of doping in cycling and allegations that the UCI and other governing bodies were ineffective in the UCI and other governing bodies responses.
article_snippet: Not only did UCI leadership publicly disregard the magnitude of the problem, but the policies put in place to combat doping were inadequate," the policies says.
article_snippet: The report confirms that, for more than a decade, UCI leaders treated riders and teams unequally -- allowing some to be above the rules," said USADA Chief Executive Travis T. Tygart.
article_snippet: UCI's favoritism and intentional failure to enforce the anti-doping rules offends the principles of fair play and is contrary to the values on which true sport is based.
article_snippet: However, Cookson reacted angrily to other aspects of the report, which suggested amateur cyclists and junior competitors were involved in doping.
article_snippet: Of older cyclists, competing in Masters categories, Cookson gave a damning verdict.