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Dublin: 18 °C Wednesday 19 June, 2013

Insurers ask Lance Armstrong to repay bonus millions

Potential legal action could come in connection with false testimony given by Armstrong during an arbitration hearing in 2006.

Lance Armstrong: facing a legal battle after USADA report.
Lance Armstrong: facing a legal battle after USADA report.
Image: ALESSANDRO TROVATI/AP/Press Association Images

DALLAS INSURANCE COMPANY SCA Promotions confirmed today that it has sent Lance Armstrong a letter demanding the return of $12 million in bonuses and warned that it might take legal action.

SCA attorney Jeff Dorough said the letter not only seeks back the bonus money but states that it might go to court for legal sanctions and penalties against the disgraced US cyclist, who was stripped of seven Tour de France titles for doping.

The potential legal action could come in connection with false testimony given by Armstrong during an arbitration hearing in 2005-2006.

Dorough confirmed that SCA was seeking $7.5 million paid out to Armstrong after a 2006 arbitration proceeding, which included a $5m bonus as well as legal fees and interest.

“Mr. Armstrong is no longer the official winner of any Tour de France races and as a result it is inappropriate and improper for him to retain any bonus payments made by SCA,” Dorough said.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) backed a US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) decision to effectively erase Armstrong’s cycling record, including the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005, after a lengthy investigation.

USADA released a detailed account of the evidence it collected when it presented UCI with a 200-page report that put Armstrong at the heart of the biggest doping programme in the history of sport.

During Armstrong’s era of dominance, US Postal Service team parent company Tailwind Sports took out a policy with SCA, paying a premium to cover bonuses paid to Armstrong for his Tour de France victories.

When SCA withheld a $5 million bonus due after Armstrong’s sixth Tour de France win in 2004 because of doping allegations circulating in Europe, Armstrong took them to court.

He won the case because the original contract between SCA and Tailwind Sports had no stipulations about doping. Armstrong meanwhile posted his first Twitter message since stepping down as chairman of the Livestrong Foundation cancer charity he created in 1997, saying earlier this week that he was “Alive and well in Hawaii.”

- © AFP, 2012

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Comments (20 Comments)

  • Finally, we’ll get to see if the “He raised loadsa bleedin’ money for cancer inanyway” argument holds up in court.

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  • CHEATER!!!!

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    • up fianna fail mr lennon ,well it would give the guards some thing to do ,maybe if they stayed of the free chinese and fish and chip they could run after someone anyway back to lance, lance its ok to lie and cheat no bneed for you to go to court cause of the charity work, the quinns are over in ireland lieing through there teeth everyone is lieing now days thats ok,look at all the kids that looked up to lance armstrong the superstar and his message to all the kids is its ok to do drugs,cheat and lie and lie somemore ,kids do what ever it takes to get to the top as long as you do charity work,on your bike mr lennon lance armstrong is nothing more than a cheating junkie and thats all he ever was or ever will be ,up fianna fail haha your harmless

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  • I’d expect that even though we may see a series of similar claims against him, he’ll try and quietly settle them all out rather than having to sit and testify under oath in court.

    He has a bit of a tricky dillemma now – I’d imagine the catharsis of openly admitting and apologising for his doping might have some attraction compared to the prospect of never ending public villification.
    But this would also open the floodgates to even more financial claims against him.

    The poor cheatin bollix, eh?

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    • @ David. I’ll add the next time someone robs you and us u detected for several years lets ser how drivilishly liberal you are when it’s suggested he just gives you back what he stole. Grow up son.

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  • Anyone wana have Wiggins tested??? Hes been too good of late..how the hell do they climb the Alps like that on a banana and a mars bar!!

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  • Lovely. He is a class a p***k. He deserves everything he gets. Cancer or not. He is a disgrace to sports people and cancer victims.

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  • confusing heroin addicts with lance armstrong makes no sense. there is no limit to sympathy so I can feel sorry for heroin junkies and lance Armstrong. If the money is repaid, and the wrong corrected wy take joy in excessive suffering.

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    • I’ve seen lots of junkies on bikes around town,dunno how much they raise for charity but they move like Shi* off a shovel at the first sign of the gardai,maybe we should send them to the tour the France,hang a bag of heroin from the boot of a chase car and see if lance keeps up with them

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    • That’s the spirit! Steal, and maybe give it back when caught. The dopers’ll be quaking in their sidis at that.

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    • are you for real,there are some serious thick people about and to be honest your one of them,so its ok to lie and cheat and when your caught you keep lieing WELL BUDDY when the herion addict is caught robbing he goes to jail and lance armstrong and the herion addict are near enough the same they both lie and cheat,but i have more time for the herion addict cause the herion addict says guilty your honour when he is caught ARMSTRONG says not guilty everyone is a liar except me,you’ve lived a sheltered live ,ok go back to your knitting

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  • Drugs or not, will he have the mental fortitude to come through all these financial and legal battles. I hope he does. Livestrong!

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    • you are the type of person who votes Fianna Fáil, supports the Catholic Church and votes for the likes of your local bent TD cos he had an extension put on your GAA club. You deserve to be hoodwinked at every corner n

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    • Simon I wouldn’t normally say this but you’re a clown. I was referring to the fact that Armstrong states in his best selling book, that he owed his tour wins to dedication and mental strength sourced from the love of his family. It clearly wasn’t from those things. He owed his tour wins to performance enhancing drugs. Btw I don’t vote or support GAA!

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    • @glen first comment too intelligent for simon!
      @simon Im a liberal and only like F1 and cycling. If Lance pays back the money does he need to suffer anymore than that?

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    • are you serious armstrong is a cheating junkie .a young lad smokeing the odd joint searched by guards have nothing else to do,caught with a few euro’s worth of to court ,fined and black listed around town,now thats who i feel sorry for, so f..k armstrong haveing themental fortitude to come through all these financial and legal battles, and by the way armstrong will always have the big car,house,supermodel lass ,next time you want to share your care and worry about a junkie, think about the herion addict from the council estate who’es messed up and homeless with no help just living for his next hit and think of his poor family. believe me there in every town in ireland AND F..K LANCE ARMSTRONG

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    • YOU SAID WHAT YOU SAID,ITS PLAIN TO SEE

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    • Glen and David. You make a lovely couple of wet liberals. Thank god you are the minority.

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