BRANDS HATCH, England: World cycling’s governing body is considering introducing an amnesty for riders and officials to confess to doping offenses in the wake of the Lance Armstrong case.
UCI President Pat McQuaid told The Associated Press on Friday that he will propose a potential amnesty for discussion at a meeting later this month.
The UCI is yet to receive the US Anti-Doping Agency’s evidence against Armstrong. The US Anti-Doping Agency said last month that Armstrong used banned drugs and should lose all titles and medals won since 1998.
McQuaid says USADA’s life ban will only be challenged if there’s “serious reason” to do so, and that the seven Tour de France titles stripped from the American might never be reassigned.
But McQuaid challenged the decision by one USADA witness, Tyler Hamilton, to publish a book last week detailing Armstrong’s apparent offenses, claiming his evidence is tainted and questioning whether he can be trusted.
In Lausanne, Switzerland, a senior International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and legal expert said it’s unclear if the Olympic body can strip Armstrong of his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games.
Denis Oswald, a Swiss lawyer and member of the IOC’s legal commission, said there are different ways to interpret the World Anti-Doping Code’s eight-year statute of limitations.
Oswald told The Associated Press the Armstrong issue is “an interesting case on a legal point of view.”
Oswald says the IOC feels “bound” by the code and perhaps Armstrong’s 12-year-old medal can’t be taken.
However, Oswald notes the code came into force in 2003 and “there was no time limit” applying in Sydney.
World cycling considers introducing doping amnesty
