Novak Djokovic on Lance Armstrong: "It's a disgrace for the sport to have an athlete like this"

Lance Armstrong admitted some of the performance enhancing drug allegations that have already been proven to Oprah. Novak Djokovic had a rather strong reaction when asked about it at the Australian Open. He called him “a disgrace for the sport” and believes “he should suffer for his lies.”

"I mean, you know, I think everybody was expecting him to do that.  I mean, it would be ridiculous for him to decline and refuse all the charges because it has been proven.  They have like a thousand proofs that he’s positive.  I think it’s a disgrace for the sport to have an athlete like this. He cheated the sport.  He cheated many people around the world with his career, with his life story.  I think they should take all his titles away because it’s not fair towards any sportsman, any athlete.  It’s just not the way to be successful.  So I think he should suffer for his lies all these years."

Cheating people around the world? Sure. Cheating the sport? A bit harsh. There has never been a time when drugs weren’t a fixture at the Tour De France. Given the large number of riders caught, linked or rumored it was a more or less level playing field. Suggesting that “clean” in almost any sport the last 30 years has meant something more than tailoring your engineering to slip in under drug testing would be more than a bit naive.