(Updated Saturday, June 3) An independent investigator says retired cyclist Lance Armstrong should be cleared of any suspicions in the blood doping allegations raised by L'Equipe magazine last fall.
At the same time, the Dutch independent investigator said the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the French testing laboratory acted improperly and unethically in the way it handled the specimens. WADA vehemently rejected those claims later.
BBC quoted Armstrong this morning:
“I have now retired, but for the sake of all athletes still competing who deserve a fair system of drug testing, the time has come to take action against these kinds of attacks before they destroy the credibility of WADA and, in turn, the international anti-doping system.”
The investigator, Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman, was formerly head of the Netherlands anti-doping agency and was contacted by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to look into the handling of the specimens at issue.
The French sports magazine L'Equipe, owned by the same parent as the Tour de France, reported last year that 6 samples of Armstrong's urine stored since the 1999 Tour de France showed traces of EPO (a blood boosting drug). The French lab LNDD was using the specimens to more finely hone its EPO detection procedures, and WADA had asked code numbers be affixed to the sample results so they could be tracked to individual bicycle racers.
Vrijman noted in a Reuters article in Eurosport that there could be no confirmation tests, therefore it wasn't right to enable the specimens to be linked to individuals.
“If you look at how the result was obtained it was so different from the analysis procedure required by WADA … it doesn't even qualify as a finding. It may suffice for research purposes but for as a valid doping result – no way.”
Now, does anyone think this is the end of the controversy? Neither do I.
The 132-page report recommends a tribunal should discuss legal and ethical violations made by WADA in the case.
Immediately, the UCI, which asked for the study, and WADA attacked its investigator for releasing the results before the UCI or the other parties involved had a chance to study them, according to the BBC.
Later, on Friday, WADA chief Dick Pound rejected claims in the report, which he described as “defamatory to the Agency, its officers and employees, as well as the accredited laboratory involved.”
“The Vrijman report is so lacking in professionalism and objectivity that it borders on farcical. Were the matter not so serious and the allegations it contains so irresponsible, we would be inclined to give it the complete lack of attention it deserves.”
Lance Armstrong's statement in full, from The Paceline (official fan website the Discovery team):
“Today the independent investigator appointed by the UCI announced the results of his work in a 130-page report. I want to thank him and his staff for all their hard work and diligence in this process. I have not had an opportunity to study the report yet, but I wanted to let you know my preliminary reactions to the report.
Although I am not surprised by the report’s findings, I am pleased that they confirm what I have been saying since this witch-hunt began: Dick Pound, WADA, the French laboratory, the French Ministry of Sport, L’Equipe, and the Tour de France organizers (ASO) have been out to discredit and target me without any basis and falsely accused me of taking performance enhancing drugs in 1999. Today’s comprehensive report makes it clear that there is no truth to that accusation.
“The report confirms my innocence, but also finds that Mr. Pound along with the French lab and the French ministry have ignored the rules and broken the law. They have also refused to cooperate with the investigation in an effort to conceal the full scope of their wrongdoing. I have now retired, but for the sake of all athletes still competing who deserve a level playing field and a fair system of drug testing, the time has come to take action against these kinds of attacks before they destroy the credibility of WADA and, in turn, the international anti-doping system.”
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