WADA blast as 'farcical' report clearing Armstrong

MONTREAL, June 2 (Reuters) The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) blasted a report clearing seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong of doping allegations as ''bordering on farcical'' today.

Chairman Dick Pound said in a statement that WADA was considering legal action after the investigation headed by lawyer Emile Vrijman and the Dutch law firm Scholten accused the agency of behaving in ways ''completely inconsistent'' with testing rules.

The independent investigation exonerated Armstrong of doping during the 1999 Tour, which he won, and determined the testing procedures at the French national doping laboratory LNDD had been insufficient to label the American's sample positive.

Vrijman also stated in the report that WADA and the LNDD had effectively pronounced Armstrong guilty of a doping violation without sufficient basis.

Armstrong, who retired last July, has vehemently denied ever using performance-enhancing drugs.

In a harshly worded statement, WADA said it completely rejected the so-called ''Vrijman report'' and that its preliminary conclusion was that ''the report was defamatory to the Agency, its officers and employees, as well as the accredited laboratory involved.'' The agency said it had taken legal advice regarding its recourses against the investigator and any organisation, including the International Cycling Union (UCI), that may publicly adopt its conclusions.

''WADA is an independent agency, comprised of equal representatives from the sports movement and the governments, which is concerned with the integrity of sport and the health of the athletes who practise it,'' said Pound in a statement.

''Our only interest in this matter is to determine the facts in an objective manner, whatever they may be.

''The Vrijman report is so lacking in professionalism and objectivity that it borders on farcical.

''Were the matter not so serious and the allegations it contains so irresponsible, we would be inclined to give it the complete lack of attention it deserves.'' French sports daily L'Equipe reported last August that it had access to laboratory documents and six of Armstrong's urine samples collected on the 1999 Tour showed ''indisputable'' traces of the blood-boosting drug erythropoietin (EPO).

A formal test for EPO was first introduced at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The UCI and WADA have waged a long-running feud over several doping issues.

WADA added more fuel to the fire today, expressing its ''astonishment that the UCI would expect anyone to have the slightest confidence in the objectivity, methodology, analysis or conclusions of such a report, especially since UCI had had more than six weeks during which to review the draft report and to correct the many factual errors contained in it.'' The UCI were unavailable for immediate comment.

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