Australian federation imposes life-long ban on runaway track star Matthew Richardson after switching nationality

Double Olympic silver medallist Matthew Richardson has been effectively banned for life from representing the Australia national squad, following his nationality swap this August. This has no implications for Richardson representing the Great Britain in competitions. Well, besides some booing from Australian fans. But that doesn't seem to bother him as went on to win both events at the first round of Champions League last weekend...

However it won't go as smoothly as you may think since UCI rules stipulate that a rider cannot compete in the immediate World and Continental Championships after a nationality swap. That's why Richardson didn't make an apperance at the Worlds in Ballerup last month, allowing his rival Harrie Lavreysen to shine.

Cycling Weekly reminds that Richardson, who was born and spent part of his life on Isles, began talks with Great Britain about switching nationality in February 2024, when he approached the squad’s head coach at a UCI Nations Cup round in Adelaide. He then kept the news secret from his Australian coaches and teammates, who found out moments before the official announcement was made on 19 August.

Since his nationality swap announcement in August, Richardson has been under investigation by AusCycling, Australia’s national body. The country has now finalised its review, concluding the sprinter "acted in a way which conflicted with the values of AusCycling, the Australian National Team and the broader cycling community", and banning him from ever rejoining the squad.

According to AusCycling, prior to the announcement, Richardson asked to take his custom race bike, cockpit and Olympic skinsuit to Great Britain without further explanation at the time. "This represented an unacceptable risk to AusCycling’s intellectual property," the national body wrote in a statement, released today.

AusCycling has now imposed three sanctions on Richardson: he is not allowed to rejoin the Australian Cycling Team "at any point in the future", applying also to any position with the Australian National Team; he is "prohibited" from using any of the team's, including its partners', resources; and he is ineligible for AusCycling awards.