Callum Skinner: ‘We are saying we need a fairer system and that is something we hope people will get behind whether they are Russian, British or American.’

Callum Skinner: ‘We are saying we need a fairer system and that is something we hope people will get behind whether they are Russian, British or American.’ Photograph: Action Images/Reuters

The British Olympic gold medal-winning cyclist Callum Skinner has urged his fellow athletes to sign up for a new global body that he says will stand up for their rights – and ensure they are no longer treated with “disdain” by the International Olympic Committee and World Anti-Doping Agency.

Skinner, one of the key figures behind Global Athlete, which plans to be an “athlete-led movement for change” in Olympic and Paralympic sports, told the Guardian that it was “crazy” that competitors did not currently have more of a voice in deciding how their sports are run.

The new organisation has been launched after growing concerns about athlete welfare following the US gymnastics sex abuse scandal and also historic reports of bullying in various British Olympic and Paralympic sports, as well concerns that the IOC and Wada have brushed the Russian doping crisis under the carpet.

Skinner, a member of Britain’s team pursuit Olympic gold-winning trio in 2016, said he had got involved with the new organisation after realising that sending “disgruntled tweets” were not going to bring about change.

“This was born out of a dissatisfaction with the way Wada lifted the suspension on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency but it is clear there are also whole bunch of issues where things for athletes could be better, including their welfare,” he told the Guardian.

“We also want to say to the IOC, maybe you could let us tweet about our sponsors during Olympics, or let us wear their logo on our shirt – basically something that doesn’t detract from their sponsors but gives us a platform to make a living.”

Skinner was especially critical of the Wada president, Craig Reedie, his director general, Olivier Niggli, and the IOC president, Thomas Bach, calling their leadership over the Russian doping scandal “ineffectual”.

“It has been gladiatorial towards athletes when it should have been conciliatory,” he said. “It should have been about open dialogue, instead it has been about suppressing the athlete voice and somebody telling us to get back on the pitch because we don’t understand the issues. They have been blowing their horn saying it’s a massive victory for clean sport but it’s not really when you have alienated hundreds of athletes on the way.

“But away from the whole Rusada case, the main issue is we find disdain for the athlete voice,” he added. “Ultimately no one knows sport better than the athletes, so it seems crazy to me that you would exclude that voice from any decision-making table, or fail to engage in basic dialogue.”

Skinner said he hoped that Global Athlete would attract as many athletes from as many countries as possible to give them as much power as possible. “We are saying we need a fairer system and that is something we hope people will get behind whether they are Russian, British or American,” he added.

The organisation will be led by Rob Koehler, who was previously the deputy director of Wada before resigning from the organisation last year, who is planning to conduct a “listening exercise” among athletes over the next few months. “We are taking a bottom up approach and speaking to the athletes to find where the biggest pressure points are and what their concerns are,” he said.

Global Athlete is being funded by FairSport – a not-for-profit independent organisation dedicated to eradicating cheating – as well as some private individuals. However Koehler promised that anyone putting money into the organisation would have no say over how it was run. “Funding is not, and will never be linked to decision making,” he said. “This is an organisation that will be solely driven by the athletes – we are here to support them and give them a voice in the long term.”