June 30/08 11:51 am - Landis Loses Final Appeal

Posted by Editor on 06/30/08
 

Landis Loses Final Appeal

The saga of Floyd Landis and the removal of his 2006 Tour de France win finally concluded today with the rejection by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) of his appeal of his suspension for doping. Landis was also told by the CAS that he had to pay $100,000 towards United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) arbitration costs.

Landis had lost his hearing before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) in 2007, but exercised his right to appeal the decision before the CAS, the top body in sports. The hearing was held in New York in March of this year, before a CAS panel composed of David Williams (New Zealand), French attorney Jan Paulsson and New York lawyer David Rivkin. The panel unanimously rejected his appeal.

As part of their decision, the panel stated: "Consequently, Floyd Landis is disqualified from the Tour de France 2006 and is suspended for a period of two years starting from 30 January 2007. Floyd Landis has been ordered to pay the sum of $100,000 to the United States Anti-doping Agency (USADA) as a contribution towards its costs in the CAS arbitration."

Landis has not issued a statement on the decision, and his website (www.floydlandis.com) appears to be offline.