Lance Armstrong pulls out of Dublin One Zero conference

Disgraced Cyclist Lance Armstrong has withdrawn from an appearance at a €175-per-ticket sports conference in Dublin this morning citing “legal reasons”.

Armstrong, who had been contracted to speak at today’s One Zero event since August, cancelled just hours before the conference on the advice of his legal team due to an upcoming Federal court case brought against him on behalf of the US Postal Service.

Co-founder of One Zero, Rob Hartnett, said: “We are extremely disappointed that Armstrong has withdrawn at the last minute from appearing at One Zero.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 he has let down those that wanted to hear him openly discuss his past and the future of sport.”

One Zero said it had been “acutely” aware of the pending legal case and had addressed 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,” they said.

“Armstrong went on to discuss the issue himself on live radio only two weeks ago 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’.”

They said in that interview the US cyclist also said: “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’.”

One Zero said it only received communication from Armstrong’s team yesterday telling them 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 4pm Armstrong’s agent Mark Higgins definitively confirmed he would not be attending,” they said.

One Zero co-founder, Richard Barrett, 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 [today] from the world of sport and technology.

"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.”