Armstrong, 41, will give a limited confession to Winfrey and will not provide details of the doping that antidoping officials have said occurred throughout his cycling career, said the two people, who did not want their names published for fear of jeopardizing their access to him.
He is scheduled to sit down with Winfrey in his home in Austin, Tex., on Monday, for the interview, which will be shown Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network. USA Today first reported the news late Friday.
Neither Armstrong nor Tim Herman, Armstrong’s lawyer in Austin, immediately returned an e-mail request for comment.
The New York Times reported Jan. 4 that Armstrong was considering admitting publicly that he had used banned drugs and blood transfusions. Last fall, after 11 of his former teammates had testified against him, he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping and for his involvement in what officials called the most sophisticated, organized and professional doping program in sports history.
Armstrong is coming forward to discuss his past doping because he wants to persuade officials to lift his lifetime ban from Olympic sports so he can return to competing in triathlons and running events, according to people with knowledge of his plans.
Last month, Armstrong met with Travis Tygart, chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, to begin discussing a way in which an admission from Armstrong could mitigate his punishment. Under the World Anti-Doping Code, athletes can receive up to a 75 percent reduction of a ban if they provide substantial assistance to antidoping authorities in building cases against other cheaters. For his ban to be reduced, though, Armstrong will have to give information about the people who helped him in his doping.
If Armstrong does confess, he is opening himself to more legal troubles than he has now. He has been named as a defendant in a federal whistle-blower case that contends that Armstrong and his associates on the United States Postal Service cycling team used taxpayer dollars to finance a systematic doping program. The government is considering joining that case as a plaintiff.
Armstrong may also have to repay $12 million he received from SCA Promotions, a company based in Dallas that paid him millions for winning several Tours de France. Jeffrey Tillotson, a lawyer for the company, said Friday that he was waiting to see the interview with Winfrey before filing a lawsuit asking Armstrong to return that money.
Armstrong is also being sued by The Sunday Times of London for more than $1.5 million over the settlement of a libel case. The newspaper paid Armstrong nearly $500,000 after it published claims from the book “L.A. Confidentiel” that he had used performance-enhancing drugs.
What worries Armstrong the most, said people with knowledge of the situation, is criminal charges that could arise from his confession. The United States attorney’s office in Los Angeles closed an investigation into Armstrong early last year regarding doping-related crimes, including fraud, money laundering and drug trafficking. Another United States attorney’s office could reopen that investigation, several lawyers involved in the case said, although that is unlikely.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/sports/cycling/lance-armstrong-will-confess-drug-use-to-oprah-winfrey-sources-say.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
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