Over the past week, Dick Pound has been quoted in the media as lobbying the Agence Française de Lutte contre le Dopage (AFLD), France’s anti-doping agency, to hold off on action in their case against Floyd Landis, while the anti-doping case being brought by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) is being decided.
As CyclingNews reported on January 25th:
WADA president Dick Pound asked the French anti-doping agency AFLD “to suspend its investigation into Floyd Landis until the end of the American procedure,” according to L’Equipe. Pound said he submitted his request to the agency in December.However, AFLD indicated that it planned to discuss the Landis’ case on February 8. AFLD has the authority to decide whether to prohibit Landis from racing in France, which could impact Landis’ ability to compete in the Tour de France come July.
Pound is positioning himself and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to take credit for a decision to postpone the proceedings, if that is the action the AFLD takes over the next couple of weeks. For its part, however, the AFLD has given no indication what it will do at the meeting on February 8th, where Landis and/or his representatives must appear.
Meanwhile, over at VeloNews, they note that:
The French hearing could be a costly distraction to Landis’s WADA fight, especially if the two panels examining his case reach opposite conclusions.
Actually, what VeloNews should be saying is that the French hearing could continue to be a costly distraction to Landis. He’s already had to hire additional lawyers, both in the US and in France, to deal with the AFLD’s charges. So it’s not a costly distraction in the future sense, it’s a costly distraction now. And the longer it goes on, the costlier it gets.
In truth, Landis and his defense team have already been working with the AFLD to come to a mutually agreeable solution, prior to Dick Pound’s public statements. Apparently Pound’s statements riled up the Landis camp enough that Michael Henson, Landis’ spokesman sent out a press release on January 26th, which quotes Floyd Landis as saying:
Dick Pound’s public comments regarding my ongoing discussions with the French authorities once again breach principles of best practice and confidentiality. Through my counsel, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, we are working with the appropriate French authorities and the process has been professional and respectful to the interests of all parties concerned.
Clearly, Pound’s comments struck a nerve. I can imagine that it would be maddening to Team Landis that Dick Pound would try to grab the credit for something they’ve worked hard to achieve. But why would Pound want to take all the credit for such an achievement?
My guess would be that he’s doing so to give the impression that WADA is an emminently fair organization, interested in justice and due process. Lately, however, the image of WADA and their front man has been anything but. A series of articles in the Los Angeles Times, Wired Magazine, the New York Times Magazine and other media outlets have painted an entirely different picture of the organization and its leader.
Dick Pound — often outspoken, sometimes outrageous, but never dull — has a PR problem. The image of WADA has been taking a beating of late. And anything he can do to shore up WADA’s image, he will. WADA’s results — punishing athletes who cheat — are not the whole story. At this point a number of news organizations have called into question the agency’s policies, procedures and methods. And a loss in the Landis case will further tarnish the agency’s reputation. Especially if the case is lost in both the USADA/WADA proceedings and at the AFLD.
So they need to craft an image in the public mind of a fair-minded organization. Convincing the AFLD to hold off while USADA and WADA pursue their case helps cement the image of WADA as an organization interested in fair play, rather than the image the media have recently portrayed. Dick Pound is attempting to shore up WADA’s image in the public eye. Will he succeed? Only time will tell.
He will only succeed with the deaf and blind, figuratively. As far as I’m concerned the only good outcome for WADA would be to dismantle the system and start over. But thats a very optimistic view in my opinion. The pessimist in me thinks the corruption and witch hunting will continue, even under new leadership.
I think at the end of the day, Dick Pound wants to be seen at the one and only Sheriff. By “telling” the AFLD to back down and having them do so goes straight to his ego.
It’s difficult to know Dick Pound’s intentions.
Perhaps he wants the world to believe each country’s ADA is independent and cannot be influenced by WADA.
Perhaps he wants WADA to appear to be fair and impartial by asking AFLD to postpone its hearing. At the same time he may hope/request they continue with their February meeting as scheduled.
Perhaps he never made the request of AFLD at all. Didn’t he participate in an interview where he later freely admitted he made up statistics that helped his argument(s)? How can you trust someone who admits he makes up information to help his cause?
What you said, Will.
Another possibility is that the AFLD investigation might find that there is no reason to suspend Landis from racing in France. This would be a PR nightmare for WADA and for Mr. Pound.