velomaniac":3ibk290f said:
Unless the testing and other evidence can prove he cheated in a court of law he is innocent.
This is not a criminal case it is a sporting anti-doping case, it would not go to a court of law unless there was strong of evidence of criminality. Sports anti-doping cases go to arbitration. This is, in the case of cycling, mostly done by the national sporting body for cycling or its Anti-doping arm (USAC, USADA). Escalation of this process is a higher court called CAS if a dispute cannot be resolved at the lower level. In cycling the UCI can also start proceedings.
velomaniac":3ibk290f said:
If all thats needed is an accusation then no ones safe.
The case was to be arbitration. Witness testimony from ten people and other evidence was to be presented. The charge sheet is a lot bigger than that.
http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/ ... ng0613.pdf Arbitration is completed under U.S. law and witnesses give testimony under oath. That is a lot stronger than an accusation in any proceedings.
velomaniac":3ibk290f said:
No smoke without fire is true.
However if they could categorically prove he was guilty they would have banned him years ago. USDA has only won because Lance stopped fighting not because USDA proved he cheated.
I believe in proof, did he cheat ? Prove it !
USADA in their opinion, do not need to prove anything at this juncture, arbitration was offered and declined. They are backed by WADA thus far. With the evidence and testimony they believe they have, they can and have imposed sanctions on him. Plus, in declining arbitration, his recourse to a higher authority (such as CAS) is currently blocked as he did not exhaust his legal avenues within the structure he agreed to when he signed for a racing licence. USADA state they will reveal the evidence they have once the case is concluded. Its not impossible to rule out, however, that this case may still be going on for a long time.
velomaniac":3ibk290f said:
Plus if Lance didn't win all those TDF's then who did bearing in mind any other contestant would have to be squeaky clean too !
Absolutely. Here is an article that highlights the difficulties with where the wins might have gone..
http://velonews.competitor.com/2011/06/ ... ium_176880
IMO I'm not sure after this time the older results will get re-distributed - however you may find that 3rd place in 2009 is now occupied by someone called Wiggins and that may be near enough for alteration. Bjarne Riis still is listed as '96 winner.
velomaniac":3ibk290f said:
Anyway who the hell are the USDA, they speak for the USA not strangely enough the world no matter what US inflated ego's think.
USADA are a WADA signatory. as with UKAD, if they ban someone from competition, due to their WADA connection, that ban goes to all signatory sports and countries, and thats a lot of countries and sports. If the other people in this case are found guilty too, they risk the same WADA sanctions. WADA is backed by the IOC so the framework is quite large and has the ability to sanction countries or sports at Olympic level.
This case, this Athlete will divide opinion more than most, however, like his peers, he was subjected to sporting rules when he signed for a licence. Many of his peers have been long since caught and discredited. The process is there for a reason and it serves all.