Skins claims damages over Armstrong doping scandal

PanARMENIAN.Net - Australian sportswear group Skins is seeking damages from cycling's governing body in the wake of the Lance Armstrong doping scandal, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Skins, an official clothing supplier and sponsor to national federations including the U.S., Australia and New Zealand; and professional teams such as Rabobank, Europcar and NetApp, sent a letter to the Union Cycliste Internationale, or UCI, Friday, Nov 2 claiming its brand reputation has been harmed.

In a letter, Cedric Aguet, Swiss-based attorney for Skins claims that the way the UCI, former president Hein Verbruggen and current President Patrick McQuaid handled the case surrounding Mr. Armstrong was the main cause for the "total loss of confidence" in professional cycling and so harming Skins and other brands that support the sport.

"Acts and omissions by the UCI, Henricus Verbruggen respectively Patrick McQuaid have caused the prejudice Skins now suffers, which prejudice exceeds the amount of $2 million, sum which the latter intends to recover through the Courts," Mr. Aguet said on behalf of his client.

Officials at the UCI were unreachable for comment by phone after European working hours. In response to the doping allegations faced by Mr. Armstrong and accusations that the UCI turned a blind eye to cheating, the governing body has set up an independent commission to probe the affair.