Emerging Australian professional cycling team Orica-GreenEDGE on Thursday said it would not rush a decision on the disgraced Matt White over his role in the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.
White was sacked on Wednesday by Cycling Australia as coordinator of the national men’s road team after admitting he took drugs when he rode on the Armstrong-led US Postal Service team from 2001 to 2003.
He is being investigated by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and stood down from his role as sports director of Orica-GreenEDGE at the weekend, although he remains under contract with the team.
Orica-GreenEDGE general manager Shayne Bannan said they would not rush a decision on his future despite his doping confession.
“We’re just waiting for the process to take its course,” he told ABC radio.
“Cycling Australia have made their decision. I believe that Matt will be meeting with ASADA over this coming period.
“We are certainly in no rush because we understand the situation and will wait until the ASADA outcome and then we can go through a process from there.”
ASADA has said it became aware of allegations of doping made against White by American cyclist Floyd Landis in 2010.
But the anti-doping agency said that due to the federal investigation in the United States and the subsequent USADA probe, ASADA was unable to obtain information to pursue a thorough examination of the allegations until now.
“In 2010 when Floyd Landis came out with the initial statements, that was dealt with at that particular time by Cycling Australia and ASADA and we felt at that particular point in time there was no need to investigate further,” Bannan said on hiring White.
“Matt has been with us for a year-and-a-half and the value that he’s brought to the team in its set-up, in the way he has gone about his business has been exceptional.
“So we’re certainly not taking this decision lightly and will make the best decision in the best interests of the team,” he added.
Armstrong has been accused by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) of being at the heart of the biggest drugs conspiracy in sports history when he won seven straight Tour de France titles. He has denied any wrongdoing.
He was issued a life ban and stripped of his titles in August by USADA, which last week revealed 1,000 pages of evidence against him, including testimony from 11 former teammates.
On Wednesday, he was dumped by sponsors Nike, Anheuser-Busch and Trek.
Orica-GreenEDGE in no rush to dump White
