Armstrong Loses Lawsuit Against Doping Agency
The anti-doping agency says Armstrong won seven Tour de France titles using performance-enhancing drugs. Photo courtesy flickr.com/goatkarmaAudio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
A federal judge has thrown out Austin cyclist Lance Armstrong’s lawsuit against the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.
Armstrong was trying to stop the doping case that the agency brought against him. The seven-time Tour de France winner contended that the agency lacked jurisdiction and that its arbitration process violates his rights.
But U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks dismissed the lawsuit, allowing the doping case to proceed.
Armstrong now has three days to decide whether to accept sanctions or move forward with arbitration.
But he may have a third option if the UCI, the governing body of cycling, wants to argue that it has jurisdiction over the case.
“They could take this to a court of arbitration, like the court of arbitration for sport in Switzerland, and argue that the UCI should be the ones to decide whether or not an anti-doping rule violation occurred,” said Laura Weislo, North American editor for Cyclingnews.com.
Weislo says if that happens, UCI is likely to dismiss all charges against Armstrong. But even then, UCI would be in a no-win situation.
“It’s bad for their reputation to look like they don’t take action against doping, but at the same time it would be really bad if the most famous cyclist of the recent history were to be found to be a complete fraud,” Weislo said.
The anti-doping agency says Armstrong took steroids and blood boosters to win the Tour de France every year from 1999 to 2005. Armstrong has repeatedly denied those accusations.
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