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Armstrong seeks Pound's ouster

By The Associated Press
Published: Jun. 19, 2006

Lance Armstrong's dispute with World Anti-Doping Agency head Dick Pound has reached a new level.

The seven-time Tour de France champion is asking the International Olympic Committee to force Pound, a Montreal lawyer, to quit over his handling of doping allegations against Armstrong.

"Dick Pound has always been quick to admonish others and to call for officials accused of misconduct to be sanctioned and removed from involvement in the Olympic movement," Armstrong said in a letter to the IOC. "In my view, it is essential that the IOC executive committee and the IOC president recognize this is a critical situation that requires decisive action."

The eight-page letter, dated June 9 and published on Armstrong's website, was addressed to IOC president Jacques Rogge and the IOC executive board (to read the complete letter in PDF format, click here).

Armstrong acted after a Dutch investigator cleared him of allegations — published in the French sports daily L’Equipe last year — that he used banned substances during his first tour win in 1999.

Armstrong, who has consistently denied using performance-enhancing drugs, asked the IOC to force Pound to step down as chairman of WADA. The IOC executive board begins a three-day meeting Wednesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"The IOC has received the letter, and it is very likely it will be discussed during the executive board meetings," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said Monday.

Pound was critical of the Dutch report, saying it was prepared by a lawyer with no expertise in doping control and that WADA was considering legal action against him.

In his letter, Armstrong said Pound's ongoing criticisms of the case were "reprehensible and indefensible.

"If the individuals responsible do not accept responsibility and yield their positions voluntarily, those individuals must be suspended or expelled from the Olympic movement," Armstrong said.

Pound said Monday from Lausanne that he hasn't seen a copy of Armstrong's letter.

"I have no idea what he has in mind, it's somewhat surprising," Pound said. "The real story is he should be complaining to what happened in L’Equipe . . . not picking on me."

Pound said the issue "doesn't even seem to be an IOC thing . . . this is a matter to be resolved between the UCI (cycling's world governing body) and WADA."

On June 2, Pound said WADA "completely rejected" a report written by Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman for the UCI that cleared Armstrong.

"They put as fact things that are suppositions, suspicions and possibilities," Pound said then.

The cycling union appointed Vrijman in October to investigate the handling of urine samples from the 1999 Tour by a French anti-doping lab. His report released May 31 exonerated Armstrong "completely" of any doping infractions.

The Paris-based sports daily L’Equipe reported in August that six of Armstrong's samples tested positive for EPO.

There was no reliable test for EPO in 1999, but urine samples were preserved and analysed later when improved testing technology was developed.

In a new 12-page statement issued Monday in Montreal, WADA reiterated its criticisms of Vrijman's report, citing a "lack of professionalism" and a "distinct lack of impartiality in conducting a full review of all the facts." (To read the complete statement in PDF format, click here).

WADA also again hinted at legal action.

"Mr. Vrijman's report is fallacious in many aspects and misleading," the statement said. "WADA is presently looking at all its available legal recourses in respect of the report."

Armstrong said in his letter that Pound has played a role in WADA's creation and "has many friends and political allies in the Olympic movement."

"Nevertheless, that cannot place Mr. Pound or anyone else in a position where they are exempt from the obligations imposed on everyone involved in the Olympic movement," Armstrong said.