Nike Bayar US$500 Ribu Tutupi Kasus Doping Armstrong
Nike Paid US$500.000 to Cover Up Drug Test Armstrong
Editor : Mohamad Aslan
NIKE diduga telah membayar US$500 ribu untuk menutupi fakta tes doping terhadap Lance Armstrong.
Klaim mengejutkan dari raksasa olahraga tersebut pernah diungkap dalam kesaksian Kathy Lemond pada 2006.
Pernyataan tersebut muncul sebagai eskalasi dari yang menolak disebut terkait dengan kasus memalukan pebalap sepeda AS, Armstrong.
Lemond, istri dari pebalap sepeda Greg Lemond, mengaku di bawah sumpah bahwa pada 2006, Nike membayar mantan Presiden UCI Hein Verbruggen sebesar US$500 ribu untuk menutupi tes yang menyatakan Armstrong positif doping.
Uang itu diklaim sebagai bayaran untuk menutupi hasil tes positif pada 1999 untuk kortikosteroid, yang digunakan Armstrong untuk mengatasi cedera.
Hal ini terkait dengan kasus dimana Armstrong dan Tailwind Sports - perusahaan yang bertanggung jawab atas tim bersepedanya - mengajukan gugatan terhadap SCA, firma di Dallas yang membebaskan pihak sponsor dari kewajiban memberi bonus atas prestasi atlet.
SCA menolak membayar Armstrong bonus S$5 juta atas janji Tailwind setelah memenangkan Tour de France 2004 menyusul tuduhan doping yang dilaporkan dalam melalui buku ´LA Confidential - Rahasia Lance Armstrong´ oleh wartawan David Walsh dan Pierre Ballester.
Selama deposisi 2006 melawan gugatan, Lemond bersaksi bahwa Julian DeVries, yang bekerja sebagai teknisi untuk tim Armstrong, mengakui bahwa Nike dan Thom Weisel, seorang bankir yang disponsori tim Armstrong, dibayar US$500 ribu ke rekening milik Verbruggen di bank Swiss.
Kepada New York Daily News, Lemond keukeuh pada kesaksiannya. Katanya: "Saya yakin Julian mengatakan yang sebenarnya," seperti dikutip Daily Mail.
Pengacara Armstrong Mark Fabiani menyanggah, dengan menyatakan: "Kami sama sekali tidak tahu apa yang dikatakan Nyonya Lemond, sejak lama dia membenci Lance, terkait deposisinya. Dan sampai hari ini kita tidak tahu apa yang dia bicarakan."
Armstrong pekan lalu dinyatakan sebagai pembohong, pengganggu dan penipu dalam laporan US Anti-Doping Agency terhadap tuduhan doping oleh tim US Postal.
Meskipun bukti-bukti memberatkan Armstrong, Nike terus mendukung pebalapnya dengan melansir ulang pernyataan Agustus lalu. Bunyinya: "Kami sangat sedih bahwa Lance Armstrong mungkin tidak lagi berpartisipasi dalam kompetisi dan berdampak terhadap gelarnya."
Foto2: Daily Mail
NIKE are alleged to have paid $500,000 for a failed drugs test from Lance Armstrong to be covered up.
The astonishing claims against the sportswear giant have emerged from a testimony by Kathy Lemond from back in 2006.
It comes as the backlash against Nike escalates while they continue to refuse to cut their ties with shamed American Armstrong.
Lemond, the wife of American cyclist Greg Lemond, claimed under oath in 2006 that Nike helped pay former UCI president Hein Verbruggen $500,000 to cover up a positive drug test from Armstrong.
It is claimed the cash was paid to cover up a positive test in 1999 for corticosteroids, which Armstrong had used to treat saddle sores.
It relates to the case where Armstrong and Tailwind Sports - the company in charge of his cycling team - filed a lawsuit against SCA, a Dallas firm that indemnifies sponsors who offer prizes based on athletic achievements.
SCA refused to pay Armstrong a $5million bonus that Tailwind had promised the cyclist for winning the 2004 Tour de France after allegations of doping reported in the book ´LA Confidential – the Secrets of Lance Armstrong´ by journalists David Walsh and Pierre Ballester.
During a 2006 deposition over the suit, Lemond testified that Julian Devries, who worked as a mechanic for Armstrong’s team, told her that Nike and Thom Weisel, a banker who sponsored Armstrong’s team, paid $500,000 into a Swiss bank account belonging to Verbruggen.
Speaking to the New York Daily News, Lemond said she stood by her testimony. She said: ´I’m sure Julian was telling the truth,´ as quoted Daily Mail.
Armstrong’s lawyer Mark Fabiani hit back, saying: ´We have absolutely no idea what Mrs Lemond, a long-time Lance-hater, was talking about when she gave her deposition. And to this day we have no idea what she was talking about.´
Armstrong was last week exposed as a liar, bully and cheat in the United States Anti-Doping Agency´s report into his alleged doping in the US Postal team.
Despite the damning evidence against Armstrong, Nike continue to back their man - reissuing the same statement from August. It read: ´We are saddened that Lance Armstrong may no longer be able to participate in certain competitions and his titles appear to be impacted.
