October 11/07 9:35 am - Landis Announces Appeal

Posted by Editor on 10/11/07
 

Landis Announces Appeal

Floyd Landis has announced that he will appeal the ruling handed down last month by the USADA arbitration panel which stripped him of his 2006 Tour de France title. The appeal goes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland; the final avenue of appeal. The USADA panel found - in a 2-1 split decision - that, not withstanding procedural problems, Landis' test result showing an abnormal testosterone/epitestosterone ratio after stage 17 was valid.

The Tour organizers have announced that they will award the jersey and title to Oscar Pereiro next Monday; no word yet on whether they will go ahead with the ceremony in light of this appeal. The CAS recently overturned a UCI decision to ban Alejandro Valverde from competing at the world championships in Stuttgart.

Landis made the following statement on his Floyd Fairness Fund website:

Floyd Landis announced today that he will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the split decision ruling handed down on September 20 by the WADA/USADA arbitration panel.

"Knowing that the accusations against me are simply wrong, and having risked all my energy and resources - including those of my family, friends and supporters - to show clearly that I won the 2006 Tour de France fair and square, I will continue to fight for what I know is right. Doping in sport seems to continue to get worse under the current anti-doping system, and this is only a part of the huge amount of proof that the WADA/USADA system needs a total overhaul. I will continue to work to clear my name and fight for change in the name of fairness and justice. No matter the final outcome of my case, there must be change in the current system if athletes can ever hope to compete on a level playing field and return to the joy and inspiration that sport can bring all of us."

"My hope is that the CAS panel will review my case on the basis of the facts and the science, and to approach my appeal from the principle that the anti-doping authorities must uphold the highest levels of appropriate process, technical skill, science and professional standards to pronounce judgment on matters that hold an athlete's career, accomplishments and livelihood in the balance."

"Finally, I want to express my heartfelt thanks to my family, friends and supporters who have stood by me and this cause in the face of a huge amount of cynicism and despair across the world of sport. Doping is a cultural problem, and it is obviously a wrong that needs to be addressed and corrected, but perpetrating a cynical and corrupt anti-doping system will not solve the problem. Two wrongs never make a right."