Lance Armstrong won’t cooperate with the US Anti-Doping Agency, who asked him to do a tell-all interview under oath. The interview would be about his use of performance-enhancing drugs in cycling.
This is the second time the disgraced cyclist has refused to cooperate with the agency. USADA officials have told Armstrong the interview is required if he wants to get his lifetime competition ban reduced.
Travis Tygart, the USADA’s chief executive, said that the agency was expecting Armstrong’s cooperation but that they would be “moving on” without him. Yahoo! News reports that Tygart added:
“Over the last few weeks he has led us to believe that he wanted to come in and assist USADA, but was worried of potential criminal and civil liability if he did so.”
Tygart also said that the agency learned of Lance’s lack of cooperation through media reports on Wednesday — the day they gave the former cyclist as a deadline.
While he will not cooperate with the USADA, Lance Armstrong has said that he still plans to “fully cooperate” with other anti-doping authorities, according to USA Today .
The news came in the form of a statement released by the Tour de France winner’s attorney, Tim Herman. Lance apparently plans to “answer every question” for an international tribunal to address pro cycling.
The USADA has pushed the meeting as a means of full disclosure. They want the former cyclist to give his confession under oath without holding any subjects back. Armstrong’s initial deadline for the meeting was February 6, but it was pushed back at the athlete’s request.
The USADA has claimed that Lance Armstrong was the ring-leader in an incredibly sophisticated doping program, which the agency called the most “successful doping program that sport has ever seen.” Armstrong’s use of performance enhancing drugs and blood doping cost him his seven Tour de France titles as well as his Olympic medal.
Armstrong finally confessed to some of the allegations during an interview with Oprah. While he did not confess everything the USADA has charged him with, he did admit to using the performance enhancers from the mid-1990s until 2005. He also disputed key points of the US agency’s case against him.
Despite his lack of cooperation with the USADA, Lance Armstrong is expected to cooperate with other agencies in the doping allegations.
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