BANNED FOR LIFE: Lance Armstrong To Be Stripped Of Tour De France Titles Over Doping Charges

[Evasporque]

70. WADA UCI...USADA - Power Struggle

WADA - World Anti-Doping Agency is the umbrella organization over international sports. WADA approved of UCI's anti-doping program. Ultimately it will be the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) that can vacate Armstrong's victories in UCI sanctioned events and ban him from cycling UCI cycling events.

It is certainly not clear what sway the USADA investigation will have in any sanctions or punishments for any proven doping by Armstrong. Right now, the UCI has tested and investigated Armstrong (he was cleared in 2005) and as we have seen he still retains all his titles and continues to compete in events (recently in a extreme triathlon, swim, mountain bike and trail run)...however I don't think that was a UCI sanctioned event.

The WADA has a protocol called ADAMS (Anti-Doping Administration Management System) Put in place on a trial basis in 2005 and now accepted as the protocol that international sports authorities follow. It is unclear if the USADA protocols are recognized by WADA and the assumption that the USADA can "strip" Armstrong's victories in UCI sanctioned events is probably not possible.

Armstrong is not going to arbitration because the USADA's authority is not clear in context to the WADA and UCI.

the UCI has supported Armstrong's challenge to the USADA's legal authority in their case and investigation against Armstrong.

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news?slug=ap-armstrong-doping

According to the above link, other bodies are in urgent meetings addressing this.

http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12681/US-Postal-case-UCI-says-it-was-never-fighting-to-defend-Lance-Armstrong.aspx

More from the cycling community above...it appears Tygart is trying to force UCI into accepting the USADA's claims and arbitration which Armstrong is not participating in. Tygart is in a power play with the UCI.

Carpani’s reaction represents a change in the UCI’s stance in relation to the matter. In recent weeks its president Pat McQuaid wrote to USADA and WADA, stringently opposing USADA’s plans to adjudicate in the matter. He insisted that the UCI’s rules dominated all others, and commanded USADA to stop its action.

This in turn led to a stern rebuke by WADA director general David Howman. “UCI’s refusal to cooperate with USADA appear to me to be against article 23.2.3 of the Code,” he told McQuaid in a letter.

“By adopting its current position UCI is sadly destroying the credibility it has slowly been regaining in the past years in the fight against doping.”

Read more: http://www.velonation.com/News/ID/12681/US-Postal-case-UCI-says-it-was-never-fighting-to-defend-Lance-Armstrong.aspx#ixzz24SpGKpoV