Orica-GreenEdge followed Cycling Australi's lead in sacking Matt White. Photo: Graham Watson | www.grahamwatson.com
SYDNEY (AFP) — Australian professional cycling team Orica-GreenEDGE on Thursday sacked Matt White as sports director over his role in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
Last month White admitted he took drugs when he rode on the Armstrong-led U.S. Postal Service team from 2001 to 2003. GreenEDGE said it was severing ties as part of a range of initiatives to reaffirm its hardline stance on doping.
“Orica-GreenEDGE is a clean team and our commitment to being clean has been a foundation principle of the team since the day of its inception,” team owner Gerry Ryan said in a statement in announcing White had been sacked.
“To maintain public confidence in our strict adherence to this principle OGE has appointed an eminent and independent external expert to audit the rigor and effectiveness of the team’s anti-doping policies and procedures.
Also last month, Cycling Australia fired White as coordinator of the national men’s road team. He is being investigated by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).
A damning report by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in October concluded that Armstrong helped orchestrate the most sophisticated doping program in the history of sport.
He was issued a life ban and stripped of his seven Tour De France titles.
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