Lance Armstrong withdraws from One Zero Conference in Dublin for ‘legal reasons’

Lance Armstrong has withdrawn from his scheduled appearance at the One Zero conference in Dublin tomorrow citing legal reasons, the organisers have announced.

One of the organisers of the conference, Richard Barrett has since confirmed that the conference will still go ahead as he tweeted: “The show goes on. Our goal remains the same and tomorrow @OneZeroCon will put on the best sports show of the year.”

Amongst the speakers due to appear at the conference include golfer Shane Lowry, former England rugby coach Clive Woodward and CEO of Skins Jaimie Fuller.

The statement released by the conference organisers is below:

Armstrong who has been contracted to speak at the event since August, cancelled on the advice of his legal team due to the upcoming Federal court case brought against him on behalf of the US Postal Service.

One Zero event organisers have been acutely aware of the pending Federal legal case, addressing the issue during initial negotiations with Armstrong some months back. Organisers were assured it would not be an issue before agreeing to Armstrong’s participation at the conference.

Armstrong went on to discuss the issue himself on live radio only two weeks ago (7th October) saying: “If there happens to be a question that is too close and too sensitive to the Federal case here in the United States I’m just going to tell you I can’t answer that question.”

Armstrong continued:

I’ve done dozens of these (talks) since that case was opened and I’ve never been put in a position where I thought, oh no, that’s too sensitive or too close to that subject.

The organisers received communication from Armstrong’s team earlier today (Thursday, 20th October) stating he was no longer willing to travel to Ireland and participate in the planned interview with Ewan McKenna. The organisers were in frequent communication with Armstrong’s team throughout the day, but at 16:00 GMT Armstrong’s agent Mark Higgins definitively confirmed he would not be attending.

Co-founder of One Zero, Rob Hartnett, said:

“We are extremely disappointed that Armstrong has withdrawn at the last minute from appearing at One Zero. He has let us down, he has let his fans down and his has let down those that wanted to hear him openly discuss his past and the future of sport”.

Co-founder of One Zero, Richard Barrett, in confirming Armstrong’s withdrawal said:

“We are obviously disappointed that Armstrong has cancelled less than 24 hours before the conference, however, he is just one of the 34 world class speakers we have lined up to appear tomorrow from the world of sport and technology. Sir. Clive Woodward, Shane Lowry, Jamie Fuller and John Kavanagh are just some of the key notes that will feature alongside many other global industry experts who will share their insights into the future of sport.”