Pound waits for Landis result
The World Anti-Doping Agency can only sit back and watch as Tour de France champion Floyd Landis attempts to have the case against him thrown out by the US Anti-Doping Agency.
“I think we have to wait and see what happens,” WADA President Dick Pound said from Montreal.
“We’re kind of a monitoring agency in these things. This is an UCI (International Cycling Union) process.
“Their procedure is to punt to the national anti-doping agency, which in this case is USADA. USADA will consider the evidence. We watch and see what happens.”
On Monday, Landis’ lawyer Howard Jacobs filed for dismissal of his client’s positive tests for unusual levels of testosterone during the Tour.
Landis’ case centers on supposed mistakes by the French labs performing the tests, including a number of errors concerned the confirming “B” samples.
“The analysis in this case is replete with fundamental, gross errors,” Jacobs said.
However, Pound dismissed the notion that the laboratory lacked credibility.
“I think you’ll see UCI has been quite vociferous in its support of the lab in this case,” he said.
“These labs aren’t accredited unless they are very competent.
“I haven’t seen all the evidence, that’s why we wait to see what USADA and UCI do about it.”
Pound confirmed that once the USADA completes its procedure, the UCI would be able to intervene if it believed the decision was not in accordance of its rules.
Under the World Anti-Doping Code, WADA would then have the right to take the matter to arbitration “if we think UCI hasn’t dealt with it in accordance with the code.”
The outspoken Pound said he had faith that USADA would consider the evidence carefully.
“Just because you see a whole bunch of excuses put forward by an athlete or people on his or her behalf does not mean you believe an anti-doping authority will roll over and play dead,” he said.