BRANDS HATCH, England — World cycling's governing body is considering an amnesty for riders and officials to confess to doping offenses, and says there would have to be serious flaws in the case to challenge the decision to strip Lance Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles. In an interview with the Associated Press Friday, UCI President Pat McQuaid said he will this month propose an amnesty to help clean up cycling after an era tarnished by doping. “There's room for it and the UCI could do well to (introduce it),” McQuaid said. “It's a subject I will bring up myself at the management committee of the UCI and it's something which we would look into possibly doing.” The meeting on Sept. 19 and 20 will consider whether offenders would respond to any amnesty. “It would need to be examined as to how it could be introduced, what would be the parameters of it, what would be the framework in which it's worked, what would be the results afterwards,” McQuaid said. “We have to work in the world anti-doping rules and sanctions.” The UCI is still waiting to receive the evidence that resulted in the US Anti-Doping Agency stripping Armstrong of his Tour titles, a move the American is not challenging. In a related matter, a senior IOC member told the AP that Armstrong could keep his bronze medal from the 2000 Sydney Games even if he is stripped of his Tour victories. Denis Oswald said the matter could turn on different interpretations of the eight-year statute of limitations stipulated in the World Anti-Doping Code. Also Friday, the Lance Armstrong Foundation announced that Armstrong will not be allowed to run in next month's Chicago Marathon. Marathon organizers have little choice, given that the race is sanctioned by USA Track and Field and Armstrong's ban prevents him from entering any events organized, authorized or sanctioned by federations that follow WADA rules. Ironman France barred Armstrong for similar reasons after USADA filed doping charges against him in June. McQuaid said USADA's decision to impose a life ban will be challenged at the Court of Arbitration for Sport only if there is “serious reason” to do so, adding that the seven stripped Tour titles might never be reassigned. The question now is whether the UCI will endorse the lifetime ban imposed on Armstrong by American authorities last month. The cycling body had hoped to discuss the case at its management meeting this month, but it is still waiting for USADA's dossier. “It does seem slightly unusual (the file hasn't arrived),” McQuaid said. “Our only thoughts on it would be that maybe they didn't have a full file or they don't have a full file ... we are assuming they do have a full file because they have already announced a life ban on Lance Armstrong.” But McQuaid does feel there has been “impropriety” in the case, claiming aspects of World Anti-Doping Agency code have not been followed by the American body. “Anyone with any knowledge of justice would know that if you want to give a person a ban for life, the least you can do is show him the evidence you have got against him and this hasn't happened in this case,” McQuaid said. USADA believes Armstrong used banned substances as far back as 1996, including the blood booster EPO, steroids and blood transfusions. — AP
