(Reuters) -The International Cycling Union (UCI) has handed two-year bans to Evgeniy Gerganov and Danail Angelov, president and vice president of the Bulgarian Cycling Federation (BCF), for breaches of its ethics code, the global governing body said on Tuesday.
An independent ethics commission found that Angelov had manipulated cycling events and verbally assaulted and intimidated members of the cycling community, the UCI said in a statement.
Gerganov, a former professional rider, had tried to consolidate control over the BCF along with Angelov, abusing their authority to modify internal structures and retaliate against opponents, the UCI added.
Angelov was found to be involved in "irregular modifications of start lists and facilitating timing anomalies in official competitions, granting undue advantages to certain athletes and undermining sporting fairness".
Gerganov did not try to stop or report incidents of verbal assault and intimidation, which involved members of the federation including Angelov, the UCI added.
The suspensions, which can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), prevent Gerganov and Angelov from holding any position within a cycling body or being involved in the organisation of any cycling event.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
