WADA: Lance Armstrong's bid for reduced lifetime ban 'almost too late'

WADA: Lance Armstrong's attempt at reduced ban for doping are “almost too late”

SI Wire | Mar 24, 2015

WADA: Lance Armstrong's bid for reduced lifetime ban 'almost too late' /

World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman says disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong has not done enough to get his lifetime ban for using performance enhancing drugs reduced and recent attempts at rehabilitation are “almost too late.”

Howman told the Associated Press at the 11th Symposium for Anti-Doping Organizations in Lausanne, Switzerland, that Armstrong did not take advantage of the opportunities he had to come forward with details of his doping past.

The Most Disliked People in Sports

Donald Sterling

<italics>Dwight D. Eisenhower once famously offered "never waste a minute thinking about people you don't like," but this is impossible in the sports world. Dislike is subjective, of course (maybe not with Donald Sterling), but here we offer our list (not ranked) of the most disliked people in sports. Feel free to dislike.</italics> Disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling has a new title: Most hated man in America, edging out Bernie Madoff in a recent poll. Sterling has dominated headlines in recent weeks after making racist comments that were caught on tape and ignited a media firestorm. The increased attention also led to a sudden jump in visibility, which has led to more infamous, racially-driven comments that have been on the verge of being removed as the Clippers' owner by the NBA. Sterling has attacked Magic Johnson and more recently, openly disavowed a previous agreement with his wife to sell the Clippers. Those actions, in addition to his previous track record, have reportedly led to his new title.

Alex Rodriguez

Currently serving a 162-game suspension for his involvement in the Biogenesis scandal, Rodriguez has been one of baseball's most disliked players for years.

Ryan Braun

After winning the National League MVP in 2011 and establishing himself as one of baseball's best, Braun was tied to the Biogenesis scandal and faced a suspension. He appealed and won -- and lied. After further investigation, Braun was hit with a 65-game suspension, mitigated by earlier public criticism of MLB's drug testing program.

Richie Incognito

Incognito, left, had a reputation for playing dirty even before word got out that he'd bullied Miami Dolphins teammate Jonathan Martin and other members of the organization. He was suspended for the rest of the 2013-14 season after an investigation, and is currently without an NFL contract.

Michael Vick

Vick's involvement with a dog fighting ring in 2007 permanently stained his reputation with a large swath of NFL fans after he had emerged as one of the NFL's most exciting players.

Julie Hermann

Dating back to accusations of verbal abuse while serving as a Tennessee women's volleyball coach, Hermann continues to make misstep after misstep. Her latest: saying that it would be "great" if New Jersey's <italics>Star-Ledger</italics> newspaper (which had just laid of 167 employees) folded.

Richard Sherman

Sherman, one of the NFL's most outspoken players, has been a lightning rod for discussion ever since a brash postgame interview with Fox Sports' Erin Andrews in which he called out 49ers receiver Michael Crabtree. He's talented, unapologetic and someone fans seem to either hate or love.

Lane Kiffin

Kiffin's penchant for running his mouth has always gotten him in trouble. Amid controversy surrounding NCAA violations made in public remarks while head coach at Tennessee in 2009, Kiffin bolted after one season for the USC job and alienated the Vols fan base. After two straight mediocre seasons in Southern California, Kiffin was fired in 2013 and took a job with Alabama shortly afterward.

Dan Snyder

Snyder has long been regarded as one of the most-disliked owners in sports, and his refusal to change his team's nickname after repeated requests has put him back in the spotlight.

Gary Bettman

Bettman has been at the center of three labor stoppages in his tenure as commissioner, which has made him unpopular with fans to this day -- particularly after a lockout lost the entire 2004-05 season. He's also been criticized for expanding the NHL into non-traditional hockey markets. The boos come every year at the Stanley Cup presentation.

Lance Armstrong

George Burns/Oprah Winfrey Network via Getty Images

Armstrong went from one of sports' most beloved figures to one of its most reviled after it was revealed he had used performance-enhancing drugs -- something he'd vehemently denied throughout his decorated career. He admitted everything in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, detailing his usage dating to the mid-90s, when he had remarkably returned to the sport after beating cancer. He received a lifetime ban from cycling and was stripped of his wins.

Mark Emmert

Emmert's comments and defense of the NCAA's position regarding college athletes getting paid, particularly in the wake of the Northwestern union ruling, have often come across to the public as uninformed. Until he presents a stronger argument, the boos will continue.

Ndamukong Suh

One of the league's physically dominant lineman, Suh's aggressive play and penchant for stomping on opponents has earned him a bad reputation. It's also lost him a lot of money in fines from the NFL.

Roger Goodell

Many of Goodell's rulings as commissioner have been controversial. He took some blame for the 2011 lockout, has cracked down on suspensions and fines for illegal hits, levied the "Bountygate" punishment on the Saints and allowed the use of replacement referees for part of the 2012 season.

Jerry Jones

The outspoken Jones was named Least Favorite Sports Personality in a 2003 SI poll. Over a decade later, Jones hasn't missed a beat -- continuing to promote "America's Team" to the media and making many splashy personnel decisions without much success to show for it.

Tiger Woods

Woods was once the undisputed best golfer on the planet. A 2009 infidelity scandal brought his high-profile marital issues with then-wife Elin Nordegren to the news forefront. That combined with his struggling play have sunk Woods' reputation in recent years.

John Calipari

Calipari wins and recruits wherever he goes. He's also left a trail of NCAA violations in his wake at UMass and Memphis. His position at the forefront of college basketball's "One-and-Done" era of recruiting have made him reviled among hoops traditionalists.

James Dolan

Dolan's management missteps have been well-documented, from ill-advised contracts to confusing coaching hires to accusations of firing an employee out of spite for sexual harassment complaints regarding then-coach Isiah Thomas.

Luis Suarez

The controversial antics of Liverpool's Suarez have gotten him in trouble on many occasions, from racial abuse of opposing players to obscene gestures at fans to biting people on the field. His notorious intentional handball at the 2010 World Cup, which helped Uruguay advance, didn't do him any favors.

Ray Lewis

Although Lewis' late-career redemption culminated in the Baltimore Ravens winning the 2012 Super Bowl, his 2000 trial connecting him to the stabbing deaths of two men stained his reputation. He was never found guilty, but misled police and received probation and a hefty fine.

Marshall Henderson

Henderson's recent homophobic comments regarding ESPN's coverage of Michael Sam during the NFL draft put the hotheaded guard back in the news. His personality rubbed many the wrong way while starring at Ole Miss, and he also went through several off-court issues involving illegal drugs.

Nick Saban

Saban wins football games -- and doesn't seem to care what anyone else thinks. His failures in the NFL with the Miami Dolphins and criticism for oversigning players have drawn plenty of dislike around opposing SEC fan bases.

Floyd Mayweather Jr.

One of the most successful boxers ever, the brash Mayweather has been charged for battery and domestic violence on multiple occasions. These troubles, and a posse of celebrity supporters that includes Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne, have made Mayweather a polarizing figure atop his sport.

John Tortorella

The outspoken Tortorella has a reputation for criticizing players, management and the NHL, as well as being standoffish to media. He is currently unemployed.

Matt Cooke

Cooke's playing style has aggravated opponents for a long time. He has pestered players and delivered notable illegal hits that have gotten him suspended on multiple occasions.

Bill Belichick

The orchestrator of the Patriots' success is known for his stoic personality. He's also known for the 2007 "Spygate" scandal, which involved Patriots staff illegally taping the New York Jets' signals during a game.

Kevin Garnett

Garnett, one of the NBA's most dominant players during his career, is also noted for his trash talk and dirty play, with a penchant for throwing elbows into opposing players.

Tim Finchem

Finchem is disliked by media for the degree of secrecy he uses regarding drug testing and player discipline-. Results and rulings are never publicized.

John Terry

The longtime England captain is also known for his extramarital affair with the wife of then-teammate Wayne Bridge in 2010. He's been suspended for racial abuse of opposing players.

Skip Bayless

An unappealing and unctuous on-air figure whether attacking LeBron James or praising Tim Tebow as a quarterback.

Sebastian Vettel

Sebastian Vettel is one of the top F1 drivers on one of the top teams. He's been successful from a young age. And he's a golden boy people love to hate, noted for his victorious finger-wagging gestures.

Kurt Busch

A history of hot-tempered outbursts and off-track incidents have not endeared Busch to NASCAR fans.

Jose Mourinho

Mourinho has long been one of Europe's top managers, and loves to talk about it -- in 2004 calling himself "special" and earning the nickname "The Special One" from media. He's outspoken and his behavior often overshadows the performance of his teams.

Jeffrey Loria

Loria built a ballpark at taxpayer expense that eventually exceed $2 billion, and he removed the Expos from Montreal.

Sepp Blatter

The bane of world soccer fans for his historically wrong-headed moves, Blatter admitted this week it was a mistake to choose Qatar to host the 2022 World Cup.

"If he satisfied the criteria to go forward and ask for suspension of his ban, the criteria will be carefully looked at, but so far he has not," Howman said. "There is no consideration being given to it. I'm not sure why he has not done anything. He certainly had plenty of opportunities, including talking to us, but he has not come forward with substantial information that might be helpful to the cycling fraternity."

Armstrong met with U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart earlier this month trying to get a reduction of his ban but has not spoken with WADA.

Armstrong, 43, was stripped of all seven of his Tour de France victories and banned for life in 2012 after USADA issued a report detailing how Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service Pro Cycling teammates “ran the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.”

Scandals in Sports

New Orleans Saints

Sports history is so full of scandals that this gallery would be hundreds of slides long if we tried to include them all. So here are some of the biggest. Then-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams boasted about his team's "remember me" shots on opposing players such as Brett Favre and Kurt Warner in the 2009 playoffs. Those hits prompted an investigation into the Saints that found that Williams administered a bounty system that financially rewarded Saints players for injuring members of opposing teams.

Penn State

In the wake of a sex scandal that led to the indictment of former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, legendary head coach Joe Paterno was fired by the Board of Trustees after 46 years in the position. Athletic Director Tim Curley had stepped down earlier in the month as questions were raised whether school officials, including Paterno, could have prevented alleged sexual abuse in which Sandusky was accused of abusing eight boys over 15 years. On the day that Paterno was fired, the Board of Trustees also ousted school president Graham Spanier.

Miami

The NCAA found itself amid its latest eye-opening scandal on Aug. 16, when it was reported that a Miami booster, Nevin Shapiro, provided thousands of dollars in illegal benefits to past and present Hurricanes players from 2002 to 2010. Currently imprisoned for his role in a $930 million Ponzi scheme, Shapiro revealed that benefits included prostitutes, cars and paid vacations, among others, many of which were known of by Miami staff and coaches. A whopping 73 athletes were implicated in the report.

Reggie Bush and USC

After a four-year investigation, the NCAA hit USC with a two-year bowl ban, four years' probation, the loss of 30 football scholarships and the forfeiture of 14 wins from December 2004 through January 2006 for a "lack of institutional control" that let athletes receive improper benefits. Running back Reggie Bush, whose family got a rent-free home and other lavish gifts from sports marketers, forfeited his 2005 Heisman Trophy. The men's basketball team banned itself from postseason play in 2010 and vacated its wins from 2007-08. Football coach Pete Carroll and men's hoops coach Tim Floyd departed under a cloud for allegedly presiding over the rules violations. The women's basketball and tennis teams were also implicated.

Tiger Woods

Golf's greatest active player was reduced to tabloid cannon fodder after he crashed his SUV outside his mansion in Florida in the wee hours of the morning. In the wake of the accident came a flood of revelations that Woods had been conducting a string of elaborately-arranged adulterous affairs behind the back of his wife, Elin. Woods' many mistresses came forth with salacious stories and text messages they'd received from him, and the superstar withdrew from the PGA Tour to enter sex rehabilitation. The scandal ultimately cost Woods his marriage and, quite possibly, his ability to dominate his sport.

The blackmailing of Rick Pitino

An FBI investigation was launched when Louisville's basketball coach reported that the wife of the team's former equipment manager was demanding college tuition, two cars, a fully paid house and millions of dollars to keep her affair with Pitino quiet. The woman, Karen Sypher, then claimed that Pitino had raped her. The coach later admitted to a 2003 dalliance with Sypher after hours in a restaurant and that he had paid for an abortion she wanted. Sypher was convicted in August 2010 of three counts of extortion, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of retaliating against a witness.

Patriots Spygate

After the first week of the 2007 season, the New York Jets accused the New England Patriots of illegally videotaping their defensive coaches' signals. The incident, better known as Spygate, cast doubts on the Patriots' three Super Bowl titles and permanently tarnished coach Bill Belichick's legacy. For the infraction, the NFL fined Belichick $500,000 and the team $250,000. The Patriots were also forced to surrender their 2008 first-round draft choice. In 2008, former Patriots video assistant Matt Walsh (inset) sent eight videotapes containing opponents' coaches' signals from the 2000 through 2002 seasons to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

NBA gambling revelations

Tim Donaghy shook the NBA to its core when the FBI revealed to the league that it was investigating the 13-year veteran official for betting on games he worked and providing inside information to professional gamblers and others reportedly linked to organized crime. Donaghy later pleaded guilty to two felonies in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, N.Y., and faced a 25-year sentence and $500,000 in fines. NBA Commissioner David Stern stated the scandal was "the most serious situation and worst situation that I have ever experienced, either as a fan of the NBA, a lawyer for the NBA or a commissioner of the NBA."

Michael Vick's Bad Newz

The star quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges that he and three other men had run an illegal dogfighting ring called Bad Newz Kennels in southeastern Virginia. The indictment contained descriptions of horrific cruelty to dogs and sparked national outrage. Vick lost his lucrative endorsement deals, was suspended without pay by the NFL and sentenced to 23 months in prison for bankrolling the ring, lying about killing dogs and testing positive for marijuana use in violation of his pre-trial release terms.

Rick Tocchet's gambling ring

The New Jersey State Police's four-month "Operation Slap Shot" scored former NHL star Rick Tocchet in its four-month investigation into an illegal gambling ring. Tocchet, an assistant coach with the Phoenix Coyotes under hockey's favorite son, Wayne Gretzky, was hit with gambling, money laundering and conspiracy charges. Gretzky's wife, Janet Jones, and several NHL players were alleged to have placed bets with a ring financed by Tocchet, who pled guilty in May 2006 to charges of conspiracy to promote gambling. He received two years' probation.

New York's unsavory Garden

New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas and his employer, Madison Square Garden, were hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders, who accused Thomas of "demeaning and repulsive behavior." According to the federal lawsuit, Thomas made unwanted sexual advances, berated Browne Sanders with offensive language and turned others in the organization against her. After a tawdry 2007 trial, the Garden and its chairman, Jim Dolan, were ordered to pay her $11.6 million.

Steroids in baseball

Barry Bonds, baseball's all-time home run king, is the puffy face of the steroid era that has sullied such superstars as Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens, Rafael Palmiero and more.

Kobe Bryant

The married L.A. Lakers superstar was accused of sexual assault by a 19-year-old employee of a Colorado resort. Bryant tearfully admitted to an encounter with the woman, but insisted it was consensual. As sordid details swirled, Bryant faced a sentence of four years to life and a fine of up to $750,000. The case was dropped in September 2004 when Bryant's accuser declined to testify after admitting that she had misled detectives. She had also received death threats after her name and details of her personal life were leaked to the media. Bryant's public apology also swayed her, although she filed a civil suit that was later settled out of court.

Danny Almonte

Fireballing Danny Almonte led the Rolando Paulino All-Stars to the 2001 Little League World Series, where he pitched a perfect game as his team finished in third place. However, scandal tainted the world of youth sports when the team was stripped of all its victories that year and its Series standing after it was proven that Almonte was actually 14, two years older than the Little League age limit.

O.J. Simpson

After a shocking, nationally televised low-speed police chase along the freeway in Los Angeles, the former USC and NFL star was indicted for the brutal killings of his wife Nicole Brown-Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Although he'd been under a cloud for alleged drug abuse and domestic violence, Simpson was acquitted after a sensational jury trial in 1995. He was later found guilty of wrongful death in a civil case brought by Goldman's family and ordered to pay $8.5 million in compensatory damages. In 2007, Simpson was sent to prison for participating in a robbery in Las Vegas.

The Kerrigan attack

Wanting her competition out of the way in the upcoming Olympics, Tonya Harding (left) conspired with ex-husband Jeff Gillooly and his hired henchman, Shane Stant, who clubbed rival Nancy Kerrigan (right) on the knee with a metal baton during a practice session at the U.S. Figure Skating Olympic trials. Kerrigan was forced to withdraw from the competition, but was waived onto the team. Harding, who placed first at the trials, finished eighth at Lillehammer amid a swirl of controversy before eventually admitting that she had hindered the prosecution of those involved in the attack. She was later banned for life by the U.S. Figure Skating Association.

Eagleson brought down

Alan Eagleson, a powerful agent and lawyer who served as head of the NHL Players Association for 25 years, resigned his post not long after published reports in September 1991 began to describe his shady deals, collusion with team owners and misuse of union funds. One client, former superstar Bobby Orr, found his personal finances had been mismanaged to near bankruptcy by Eagleson, who was charged in the U.S. in 1994 with 34 counts of racketeering, obstruction of justice, embezzlement and fraud. Canada followed with eight counts of fraud and theft in 1996. Eagleson later paid a $700,000 fine in the U.S. and served 18 months in a Canadian prison. He was also disbarred and forced to resign from the Hockey Hall of Fame, where he had been enshrined as a builder.

The Boss pays for dirt

New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner in his blustery heyday was a perpetual scandal machine. He was suspended twice: for 15 months in 1974 for illegal campaign contributions to Richard Nixon, and for life (later reduced to two years) in 1990 after paying gambler Howie Spira to dig up unflattering stories about Yankees slugger Dave Winfield, with whom Steinbrenner had been feuding. Frequent fines for criticizing umpires and league officials, and a revolving door of hired and fired managers also helped turn the staid Yankees into the Bronx Zoo during the late '70s and through the '80s.

Pete Rose

Baseball's all-time hits leader was permanently banned after an investigation revealed that he'd bet on baseball games, sometimes as much as $20,000 a day, while managing the Cincinnati Reds. ''Despite what the commissioner said today, I didn't bet on baseball,'' Rose insisted, admitting that he only wagered on other sports. ''I made some mistakes and I'm being punished for mistakes.'' More mistakes and punishment followed, as Rose was jailed in 1990 for tax evasion. It wasn't until 2004 that he owned up to his baseball bets -- while peddling his book My Prison Without Bars .

Wade Boggs and Margo Adams

Boston's five-time batting champ became the face of extramarital canoodling when it was revealed that he'd been singing "Why Don't We Do It On The Road" with mistress Margo Adams for four years. When Boggs cut ties, Adams sued him for $12 million worth of emotional distress, and dished sauce to Penthouse magazine. With fans chanting "Mar-go!", Boggs came clean by going on 20/20 to tell Barbara Walters what a mean old conniving blackmailer Adams was.

SMU gets "death penalty"

The NCAA shut down SMU's football program after a series of major violations, including a sophisticated scheme that saw boosters paying players thousands of dollars. Previously a perennial powerhouse, SMU did not resume football until 1989.

Cocaine in baseball

Dave Parker, a two-time batting champ and the 1976 N.L. MVP, was one of the biggest names in baseball's biggest drug mess of the 1980s. After testifying at the trial of one of his suppliers, Parker was sued in Federal court by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were irked by the fact that they were on the hook for his $5.3 million salary at a time when the slugger was proving that cocaine was not exactly a performance-enhancing drug. (His production had tailed off and he'd become bloated and prone to injury.) Adding insult to indignity, the team's mascot, the Pirate Parrot, admitted that he'd introduced players to drug dealers.

Ball Four rips cover off baseball

Revered Yankee icon Mickey Mantle was portrayed as a hard-drinking carouser by former teammate Jim Bouton in the 1970 book Ball Four . Bouton's opus created a mushroom cloud of controversy over baseball's presumably squeaky-clean domain by becoming the first best-seller by an insider to reveal that major league players were mostly cretins. (Bouton was publicly chastised by Commissioner Bowie Kuhn and turned into a pariah.) Mantle later admitted to distasteful personality flaws fueled by his voracious thirst for alcohol. Even after his 1995 death, his dark side has lived on, most recently in a salacious, mostly fictitious book by Peter Golenbock.

Denny McLain

A two-time Cy Young-winner, the last pitcher to win 30 games in a season (Detroit, 1968) was suspended three times in 1970 for consorting with reputed gamblers with mob ties, dumping water on sportswriters, and packing heat on a team flight. After injuries derailed his career, McLain got 23 years in prison for racketeering, extortion, conspiracy and cocaine possession. His 1985 sentence was overturned two years later and he plea bargained his freedom, but returned to the big house in 1996 for six years on an embezzlement rap.

College hoops point-shaving

College basketball has seen no worse humiliation than the 1951 point-shaving scandal involving players on several teams. Manhattan College center Junius Kellogg's report of a bribe offered by a teammate helped uncover the scandal. When all was investigated and the indictments were handed out, the numbers were staggering. From 1947 to '51, 86 games were fixed and 35 active and former players were accused of partaking in the gambling. Twenty players, as well as 14 known gamblers, were indicted and convicted.

The Black Sox scandal

Veteran ace Eddie Cicotte (pictured) of the Chicago White Sox was 29-7 with a 1.82 ERA in 1919 before he became one of eight key figures in the infamous scandal that broke in September 1920 with widespread news reports of gambling in baseball. Cicotte admitted to a grand jury that month that he'd accepted $10,000 from gamblers to help fix the 1919 World Series in favor of Cincinnati. (He was 1-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 22 innings.) Cicotte and his conspirators were acquitted, then promptly banned from the game for life by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. Send comments to siwriters@simail.com

Earlier this month, Armstrong and the International Cycling Union were criticized by the Cycling Independent Reform Commission for ignoring doping.

Howman says Armstrong had the chance to come clean about decades of doping but "did not do it before the independent commission that was established by the UCI, he did not do it with USADA, he has not done it with us."

Howman also agreed with ICU president Brian Cookson, who said that Armstrong's planned charity ride later this summer on the Tour de France route would be "disrespectful" to current riders.

"Mr. Cookson is the correct judge of that, and I think his statement reflected what was probably the position from their perspective, which is damaging," Howman said. "I think there is probably going more attention on what he is doing than on the Tour, and that's a little bit sad."

- Scooby Axson

Published Mar 24, 2015

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