TRUTH AT LAST: Lance Armstrong, who spent years vilifying anyone who dared accuse him, finally admits to Oprah Winfrey that he’s a drug cheat. (
)
TRUTH AT LAST: Lance Armstrong, who spent years vilifying anyone who dared accuse him, finally admits to Oprah Winfrey that he’s a drug cheat. (Reuters)
Lance Armstrong should expect a wave of costly lawsuits in the wake of his doping admission.
The government of South Australia became the latest potential plaintiff to hint at legal action against the disgraced cycling champ, who confessed to Oprah Winfrey, in interviews airing tomorrow and Friday, of using banned performance-enhancing drugs.
Armstrong took several million dollars in appearance fees from the Australian state to promote the Tour Down Under cycle race from 2009 to 2011, Premier Jay Weatherill said yesterday.
“We’d be more than happy for Mr. Armstrong to make any repayment of monies to us,” Weatherill said, saying he is considering a lawsuit.
Armstrong’s sponsors, who dropped him en masse last October on the heels of a damning US Anti-Doping Agency report, may be next.
Trek Bicycles, which dropped Armstrong last year, is also considering legal action.
“Right now, we are waiting to see the interview before potentially making a statement,” said spokesman Eric Bjorling.
Last year, Armstrong lost more than $50 million in endorsement deals from Nike, Radio Shack, Anheuser-Busch and others.
Several lawsuits are already in the works.
Armstrong’s former teammate, now arch-enemy, Floyd Landis, already has an ongoing federal False Claims Act whistleblower lawsuit against him.
And the feds are considering joining a suit over the $40 million in funds his racing team accepted when it was sponsored by the US Postal Service, which had a no-doping clause, according to court documents made public last month.
In Texas, the Dallas-based SCA Promotions is demanding Armstrong return as much as $13.7 million in bonuses paid him for winning his sixth Tour de France title in 2004 — and said they will sue to collect.
“Anyone he had a relationship with that had a drug-testing clause in the contract or a morals clause in the contract has a case,” said Robert Boland, a sports-law expert and chair of NYU’s Tisch Center for Hospitality, Tourism and Sports Management.
He estimated Armstrong’s legal fees alone are already in the seven figures.
— with AP