Manolo Saiz's cycling team was granted a Pro Tour racing license Monday by the sport's governing body.

Saiz, who has been implicated in the Spanish doping scandal, is the former team director of Liberty Seguros. The team is led by Spanish Vuelta champion Alexandre Vinokourov and is now called Team Astana.

Team Astana is owned by Active Bay, and Saiz is a major shareholder of that company.

The International Cycling Union's licenses commission approved the license, but the governing body said it "regrets the circumstances which have obliged the commission to take this decision, which is undoubtedly correct in legal terms."

The decision was "most likely due to the lack of information from the Spanish authorities and the extremely confusing state of affairs with operation Puerto,"' the UCI said.

Saiz denies any involvement in doping.

Five Team Astana riders withdrew from the Tour de France in June because of the Spanish doping allegations. Vinokourov and the team were also forced to pull out because a minimum six riders are needed to compete.