Having already been handed a lifetime ban for long-term doping during his career, the repercussions of Lance Armstrong’s past actions continue to be felt by the Texan after he was ordered to pay a $10 million (€8.5m) penalty by an arbitration panel.
The ruling, which was handed down earlier this month, came to light on Monday when the SCA Promotions company requested a Texan district court to enforce the ruling.
It said that Armstrong had refused to comply with the order and that it had been forced to take the case further in order to ensure that he pays up.
“We are very pleased with this result,” said SCA’s president and founder, Bob Hamman. “It is hard to describe how much harm Lance Armstrong’s web of lies caused SCA but this is a good first start towards repairing that damage.”
In a statement, the prize promotion business said that the penalty is believed to be the largest award of sanctions assessed against an individual in American judicial history.
SCA Promotions has a long history with Armstrong, having originally entered into a contract with the US Postal Service team owner Tailwind Sports during the early 2000s. It was paid a premium on the basis that if Armstrong won future editions of the Tour de France, that it would cover the bonuses his team would otherwise have had to pay.
It paid Armstrong $4.5 million for his victories in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and was due to pay out an additional $5 million after he won his sixth Tour title in 2004. However, when claims of doping surfaced against Armstrong the company backtracked, saying that it believed he may have doped to take his titles.
A two-year court case followed, during which former US Postal Service rider Frankie Andreu and his wife Betsy testified that they had heard Armstrong admit using a range of doping products. They said they had been present in a hotel room in 1995 when Armstrong was being treated for testicular cancer and that he had made the admission to doctors.
Banned substances
Armstrong testified under oath that he had never used banned substances. SCA Promotions was eventually forced to settle as the original contract between the two companies didn’t include stipulations about doping. It ended up paying the sum in question as well as an additional $2.5 million in interest and legal fees. In all the contract with Armstrong cost the company $12 million.
That matter resurfaced after Armstrong finally admitted the use of banned drugs during an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013.
SCA Promotions considered that his earlier denials were perjury and this claim was held up by the arbitration panel overseeing the case. It ruled that he had “used perjury and other wrongful conduct to secure millions of dollars of benefits” from SCA Promotions, which was the insurance company contracted to cover bonus payments due to him for winning the Tour de France.
In addition to committing what they said was “perjury on every issue” in the case, the arbitrators also found that Armstrong “intimidated and pressured other witnesses to lie.”
SCA lawyer Jeff Tillotson said that the record-breaking award "was justified given Armstrong's outrageous conduct." He noted that the arbitration panel had determined that Armstrong had continued to lie during the final hearing.
Federal investigation
Armstrong is currently fighting a separate case launched by his former team-mate
Floyd Landis
, who spoke about widespread doping use on the team. His claims sparked off a short-lived federal investigation which was replaced by a long inquiry by the US Anti Doping Agency, and Armstrong’s eventual lifetime ban.
Landis’s whistleblower case was joined by the US government as it argues that the US Postal Service company, a government agency, was defrauded by the cycling team it was sponsoring. If Armstrong and the other defendants lose the case they could be liable for triple damages.
The US Postal Service company paid out over $30 million during its backing of the team, making the defendants liable for a sum close to $100 million.
It is not clear what Armstrong’s net worth is at this point. However he was previously believed to have earned more than $100 million during his career.
