Lance Armstrong's lawsuit against USADA dismissed

GlobalPost

American cyclist Lance Armstrong's federal lawsuit seeking to block the United States Anti-Doping Agency from going forward with doping charges that could strip him of his seven Tour de France titles has been dismissed.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday, according to The New York Times.

The ABC says it was later thrown out by Judge Sam Sparks who criticised Armstrong's lawyers, saying the suit smacked of a public relations move.  However, Judge Sparks also said he was not ruling on the merits of the filing, and Armstrong could could to present the case again.

The lawsuit said that the USADA violated athletes' constitutional rights to a fair trial and it accused the agency's chief executive, Travis Tygart, of having a personal vendetta against Armstrong, according to the Associated Press.

On June 12, the USADA sent Armstrong a letter charging him and former cycling team colleagues with "conspiring to use and distribute performance-enhancing drugs from 1996 to 2010," according to The Washington Post.

Cancer-survivor Armstrong has always insisted that he never took performance-enhancing drugs, according to CNN.

More on GlobalPost: Lance Armstrong doping case going ahead, USADA says

AFP explains that Armstrong has until Saturday to either accept or reject the USADA's sanction, and if he chooses to reject it, the case against him will go before an independent three-person arbitration panel.

Armstrong said in his lawsuit that the panel was "an arbitration regime" that the USADA "has populated with arbitrators who predictably find in USADA’s favor," The Times writes.

More on GlobalPost: Lance Armstrong hits back at ASADA over doping claims

In response to Armstrong's lawsuit, Tygart released a statement, said CNN: "USADA was built by athletes on the principles of fairness and integrity. Like previous lawsuits aimed at concealing the truth, this lawsuit is without merit and we are confident the courts will continue to uphold the established rules which provide full constitutional due process and are designed to protect the rights of clean athletes and the integrity of sport."

In February, the Justice Department closed a criminal investigation after reviewing doping allegations against Armstrong. Prosecutors cited a lack of evidence to charge Armstrong with using performance-enhancing drugs, according to CNN.

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