Lance Armstrong Owes $10M to Promotion Firm Over Doping

Lance Armstrong and his Tailwind Sports Corp. have been ordered to pay $10 million to SCA Promotions for an "unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy," an arbitration panel said Monday.

"We are very pleased with this result," SCA's president and founder, Bob Hamman, told The Associated Press. "It is hard to describe how much harm Lance Armstrong's web of lies caused SCA but this is a good first start toward repairing that damage."

SCA paid Armstrong and the since-dissolved Tailwind team management company roughly $12 million during the former cyclist's winning of seven Tour de France titles, which were later stripped over his use of performance-enhancing drugs.

The company sued Armstrong after he confessed to Oprah Winfrey on television that he had cheated during his championship wins.

"Perjury must never be profitable," the arbitration panel's 2-1 majority wrote in its decision. "Tailwind Sports Corp. and Lance Armstrong have justly earned wide public condemnation. That is an inadequate deterrent. Deception demands real, meaningful sanctions."

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