by Our Sports Desk

The director of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said yesterday that he was disappointed Lance Armstrong has not apologised for costly and time-consuming lawsuits before the former cycling champion admitted using performance-enhancing drugs.

David Howman also said that US National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) players need to change their attitude toward drug testing and professional football clubs should co-ordinate efforts with Fifa and continental confederations.

Armstrong was given a lifetime ban from elite sport in 2012 and admitted the following year that his denials had been lies. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles.

“He was able to beat the system in ways and means where others were complicit and others understood what he was trying to do. And I’m not just talking about his team. There was a healthy disrespect for the rules. I don’t think that will happen again,” Howman said.

“We spent a lot of time, a lot of money. We fended off a lot of legal action (that was) all for nothing. And we’re not going to be compensated. We haven’t even been apologised to and that’s regrettable.”

Howman was in New York to announce a collaboration between Wada and the Partnership for Clean Competition that includes $6 million (£3.9m) in research funds, of which $1.5m (£1m) will be matched by the International Olympic Committee.

In discussing professional sports in the US, he criticised the NFL Players Association for not agreeing to more stringent anti-doping policies.

The NFL has “a bit of an issue with their collective bargaining agreement, which has not lent itself to the same, let’s say, progressive anti-doping program that the MLB people have and similarly at the National Hockey League,” he said. “I think there needs to be an attitudinal shift from the players.”

Players association spokesman George Atallah responded by saying: “We know that Wada has to demonise athletes and unions to stay relevant. Our collectively bargained drug policies are strong and fair.”
Howman said five positive tests in MLB in the last month are “worrisome” for baseball.

“I think they’re conducting an inquiry to see why they have occurred, whether there was some link with any supplement or any other substance that might be spiked intentionally with some banned substance,” he said.

Positive tests in football have been rare, which Howman said was in part because not enough testing is done.