Last week, a New York Times report indicated that Lance Armstrong is considering admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career. It appears that admission of guilt could come as early as next week.
According to USA Today, Armstrong is scheduled to tape an interview with Oprah Winfrey at his home in Austin, Texas on Monday. During the interview, which will air Thursday, Armstrong is expected to admit to doping throughout his career without going into specific detail about certain events or cases.
As we know, Armstrong has spent several years vehemently denying that he cheated. Then in August, he decided to give up on defending himself against allegations and was stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles by the USADA. Many considered Armstrong’s decision to let his guard down to be an admission of guilt, and that may prove to be true if he comes clean when speaking with Oprah.
It is believed that Armstrong’s motivation behind admitting he took steroids is his desire to compete in US Anti-Doping Association-sanctioned sporting events. However, any potential admission of guilt would come with the risk of being sued by those who believe he misled them by lying about taking performance-enhancing drugs. He could also face criminal prosecution since he testified under oath in 2005 that he never used PEDs, although the statute of limitations would come into play.
As USA Today pointed out, Armstrong will still have to wait quite some time to get back into cycling even if he does come clean. If he is cooperative and helpful, his lifetime ban could be reduced to no less than eight years — unless the World Anti-Doping Agency and USADA reach an agreement to reduce the ban further.
