Cycling Champion Lance Armstrong’s donation misjudged
It seems as if controversy just does not leave the side of the seventh time Tour De France champion Lance Armstrong. Recently he came under scrutiny again after donating $100,000 to the International Cycling Union (UCI) making Armstrong switch on his defensive mode once again, post his doping scandal.
This time around coming to his aid was the World Cycling Chief Pat McQuaid, that there was no conflict of interest in the donation made by the former champion, and that it was legitimate for the governing body to have accepted the donation. Lance Armstrong has had to face a myriad of allegations with regards to doping in the past, courtesy his team mate Floyd Landis. Landis’s allegations cast a shadow over the career and legacy of Armstrong. He claimed that Armstrong had been dependant on banned substances and his manager Johan Bruyneel, helped him conceal the use of these banned substances by adopting a variety of methods. Amongst other people that Landis pointed fingers at, his next target was also the International Union of cyclists, who he claimed were also accomplices in Armstrong’s doping scandal case by means of hiding the positive tests conducted on Armstrong during the Tour de Switzerland in 2002. These claims have been vehemently denied by both the International Union of Cyclists as well as Lance Armstrong. It is worth mentioning here that Landis himself was at the centre of a doping controversy as well back in 2006, when his Yellow Jersey was taken away from after testing positive for the use of testosterone.
Coming to this latest talk of the cycling circuit, the Chief of the International Union of Cyclists Pat McQuaid has admitted in front of the media that Armstrong did indeed give a donation but that there was nothing illegal or mischievous about it. He clarified that it was just a token with no strings attached. McQuaid also outlined the backdrop of the story due to which Armstrong had made the donation. He recalled that Armstrong and his manager Johan Bruyneel visited the newly inaugurated world cycling centre in Aigle, Switzerland back in 2002. With the first impression of this new centre being the last on Armstrong’s mind, he decided to give $100,000 in donation to the Union for the uplift and development of the game. Not just that to make the game climb the ladder of success and popularity. However, the pledge was made but the money was not actually deposited till three years later. That too, the Union had to approach the company that manages Armstrong’s finances to come true on the donation promise.
McQuaid has very categorically stated what the money would be used for. From the start it was decided that the Union will use the money to invest in machinery that will ironically be used to analyze blood samples.
But instead of the donation being looked upon as a goodwill gesture, heads within the cycling circuit and media circles have started to roll. They are terming the timing of the donation and the continuous string of doping allegations to be slightly tricky, putting Armstrong in a precarious position. To silence the critics, McQuaid has said the Union would be careful with regards to the situation as when the pledge was made back in 2002, there was no need to call into question the integrity of Armstrong and that there were no charges against him when he made the pledge.
McQuaid also termed Landis’s allegations a sad day in cycling history as one team mate was taking jabs at the other, however he has assured the media that the allegations were being seriously looked into and five national federations have already been asked to launch a probe. But this time around, it seems as if Armstrong’s goodwill gesture may also turn into a disadvantage for him.
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