Rupert Murdoch's Sunday Times Sues Lance Armstrong

11:26 AM PST 12/27/2012 by Georg Szalai

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The suit for more than $1.6 million is tied to the settlement of a libel case a few years ago after the paper reprinted doping claims against the cyclist.

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London's Sunday Times, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp., is suing Lance Armstrong for more than $1.6 million over the settlement of a libel case a few years ago, the Associated Press reports.

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The 2006 settlement, worth $485,000 in current currencies, brought to an end litigation launched by the cyclist after the Times reprinted claims from a book that Armstrong had taken performance-enhancing drugs.

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The new suit, quietly announced just before Christmas, comes after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency this year found that Armstrong led a doping program on his teams. That led to Armstrong being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles. He also was banned from competitive cycling for life.

"It is clear that the proceedings were baseless and fraudulent," the Times said in a letter to Armstrong's lawyers about the previous settlement, according to the AP. "Your representations that you had never taken performance-enhancing drugs were deliberately false."

The paper wrote: "The Sunday Times is now demanding a return of the settlement payment plus interest, as well as its costs in defending the case."

Armstrong has yet to respond to the suit publicly.

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai