Sports
Armstrong Exposes Doping Deal With UCI Boss
Lance Armstrong has disclosed that the ex-president of cycling’s world governing body knew he was doping and helped cover it up.
The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles last year before admitting he had taken performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
Armstrong told Tidesports source that Hein Verbruggen helped him avoid a ban in 1999 by agreeing to blame a positive test on a backdated prescription for a steroid cream to treat saddle sores.
Dutchman Verbruggen was president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) when Armstrong tested positive at the 1999 Tour de France.
Lance Armstrong admits doping to win cycling titles.
The American says Verbruggen approved the idea of backdating the prescription to help protect the image of the sport.
Armstrong, who ‘won’ his first Tour de France in 1999, said, “The real problem was, the sport was on life support [after the 1998 Festina drugs scandal]. ‘This is a real problem for me, this is the knockout punch for our sport, the year after Festina, so we’ve got to come up with something’. So we backdated the prescription,” he said.
In a letter to the national federations, published earlier this month, Verbruggen said his conscience was “absolutely clean”.
He wrote: “I have never acted inappropriately. With the benefit of hindsight, however, I admit that I could have done some things differently, but I do not accept that my integrity is in doubt.”
Current UCI President Brian Cookson was elected in September promising that establishing independent anti-doping procedures and carrying out “a swift investigation into cycling’s doping culture” were his priorities.
The organisation claimed in a statement that it would fully examine its own role in the scandals of the past.
“The UCI’s Independent Commission of Inquiry is in the process of being set up,” it read.
“The commission will invite individuals to provide evidence and we would urge all those involved to come forward and help in its work.
“This investigation is essential to the well-being of cycling in fully understanding the doping culture of the past, the role of the UCI at that time and helping us all to move forward to a clean and healthy future.”
Verbruggen is still a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which responded to Armstrong’s latest claims by questioning his integrity and stating that it would wait for the UCI’s own conclusions before acting.
“It is hard to give any credibility to the claims of a cyclist who appears to have misled the world for decades,” read an IOC statement.“We await property considered outcomes from this investigation rather than rumour and accusation.”
In August 2012, Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and accused by the United States Anti-Doping Agency of the “most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme sport has ever seen”.
After repeatedly denying accusations of doping, he finally admitted in a television interview with chatshow host Oprah Winfrey in January that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
The Sports Writers Association of Nigeria ( SWAN) Rivers State Chapter has set up five standing working committees on Tuesday, in its general congress.
At the playoff held at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club, Onikan, the team of Canice Abua, Michael Emmanuel, Daniel Adeleye, and Abubakar Yusuf was majestic as they restored Nigeria’s hope in a sport that once gave the country so much joy.
Speaking after the final game, Nigeria Tennis Federation (NTF) President, Victor Ochei, said the Davis Cup feat is the stepping stone to better days in the sport, adding that the federation has set up programmes that will help the budding talents across the country play at the same level as their counterparts in other tennis-developed countries.
Ochei said: “The whole aim of having this new board is to lift the sport to the level we used to be. I tell you, tennis is taking a new shape in Nigeria. We are putting everything and anything to make that work happen.”
Ochei said that the NTF has looked at sponsorships and how to get the emerging players compete at the same level with their peers elsewhere, adding that the federation is working on organising local competitions and helping the players to compete in international championships.
“We believe that with what we are doing now, sponsors will come to us to organise new competitions. But beyond that, there’s a strategic growth development plan, a 10-year development plan, which the board is working on.
“The programme will ensure that we catch them young. This is because we believe that to create champions, we must start grooming them early. The champions you are seeing today were those groomed yesterday.”
“The process of building new champions will include building the coaches, the players, the infrastructure and sensitising the parents so that we can start catching them as young as age five to six.
“By the time that we groom them through 10 years of training, at age 15, 16, you will see fantastic professional players.”
To achieve the federation’s plans, Ochei admits that the NTF needs a lot of investment, adding that the board is working at realising the funds quietly and tenaciously.
The NTF president acknowledged the contributions of former international stars like Nduka Odizor and Sadiq Abdullahi to the bid to rejuvenate Nigerian tennis, adding that NTF is open to collaborating with former players who know what it takes to play at the highest level of the sport.
He said, “Nduka Odizor is around as one of our VIP personalities. He has been psyching up the boys in the battle with Uzbekistan. He will not enter the court to play, but his mere presence is enough motivation to the boys, who will want to be like him in the future.
“You see, the type of support the Odizors, the Imonities and the Abdullahis got in their time is no longer there, but we are revamping it with the support of our stakeholders in the Diaspora.
“It will appear to take us some time, but I can tell you that the Diaspora support is massive.”
In its bid to get good results in this year’s Commonwealth Games, the National Sports Commission (NSC) has disbursed N200 million as training grants to 26 athletes.
The 2026 Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland.
The NSC stated that the grants were disbursed through its Elite and Podium Board, noting that N200 million was allocated to select top-performing athletes.
The beneficiaries are both foreign-based and home-based, the NSC said, adding that it will cater for their training and preparation expenses.
According to the NSC, the recipients span several sports, including athletics, wrestling, weightlifting, and para-sports, in line with the Commission’s mandate to prioritise athletes’ welfare and high-performance development.
The Commission added that the disbursement follows the establishment of the Elite and Podium Board, created to implement a scientific and institutionalised support system aimed at sustaining peak performances by Nigerian athletes at major international competitions.
NSC Director General, Bukola Olopade, said the Commission, under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was established to restore confidence and provide renewed hope for Nigerian sportsmen and women by placing strong emphasis on athlete welfare.
“The training grants disbursed to 26 athletes across different sports followed a careful and professional selection process by the Yusuf Ali-led Elite and Podium Board. This is our way of reassuring our athletes that their welfare remains our utmost priority,” he said.
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