Exonerated Lance Armstrong wants Dick Pound fired from WADA
Last Updated: Tuesday, June 20, 2006 | 12:26 AM ET
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Seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong wants the International Olympic Committee to force out Dick Pound as head of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
In an eight-page letter to IOC president Jacques Rogge sent last week, Armstrong sharply criticized Pound for trying to keep alive the doping allegations against the legendary American cyclist.
The letter comes after Pound dismissed a report by a Dutch investigator that cleared Armstrong of allegations he used performance-enhancing drugs to help him win his first Tour de France title in 1999.
Lance Armstong wants Dick Pound (above) fired from his post as head of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
(Associated Press)
The Paris-based sports daily L'Equipe reported in August that six of Armstrong's urine samples from the 1999 race tested positive for the oxygen-boosting drug EPO.
At the time there was no reliable test for EPO, but the samples were preserved so they could be analyzed when improved testing technology was developed.
Cycling's world governing body appointed Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman to investigate the charges. His report released on May 31 exonerated Armstrong.
But Pound rejected the report, claiming Vrijman knows little about doping control. A WADA statement said the report was "so lacking in professionalism and objectivity that it borders on the farcical."
In his letter, Armstrong called Pound's criticisms "reprehensible and indefensible" and demanded the IOC take "decisive action" against the outspoken Montreal lawyer.
"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.
Armstrong said the IOC has the power to push Pound out because of its strong links to WADA. He points out that the IOC appointed Pound to his post and provides WADA with financial backing.
The IOC says it has received Armstrong's letter and will discuss it during this week's executive meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
With files from Canadian Press
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