Lance Armstrong has been removed from another high-profile athletics-based charity. Athletes for Hope, an organization started by Armstrong, retired tennis player Andre Agassi and retired soccer player Mia Hamm, has dropped the cyclist from the charity, the Wall Street Journal is reporting. The move comes after Armstrong's admission to using performance-enhancing drug in his televised interview with Oprah Winfrey earlier this month.
Agassi said in an interview that he was saddened and angered by Armstrong's admittance, it is ultimately irrelevant to Athletes for Hope's mission. Athletes for Hope is a six-year-old ago charity. It was created to match athletes with already existing charities, instead of those athletes starting their own, potentially using many donations to fund overhead costs. The move also prevents similar charities from sapping each other's potential donor base.
The Athletes for Hope chief executive Ivan Blumberg said Armstrong's withdrawal from the program was a mutual decision that was made more timely by the interview that aired over two nights on the Oprah Winfrey Network. It was the first time Armstrong acknowledged any wrongdoing in his cycling career after almost a decade of refuting claims of his drug use in training for races.
Armstrong wasn't the first athlete to leave the charity because of Armstrong's past. Tennis pro Andrea Jaeger quit this past August, saying that, "the direction [of Athletes for Hope] was different from the values and messaging that are important for me to relay to youth." It is easy to speculate Jaeger might consider coming back if Armstrong's involvement was the main factor in her departure.
One of the charity's original spokesmen, former baseball player Cal Ripken left Athletes for Hope after Armstrong's admission as well.
In 2007, Athletes for Hope opened with 12 high profile athletes as founding members, including former Nascar driver Jeff Gordon and skateboarder Tony Hawk.
Athletes for Hope's funding has decreased recently, which has been attributed to the lackluster economy, according to people within the charity.
Armstrong also recently left Livestrong, his original cancer charity.
Last year, Livestrong donated $50,000 to Athletes for Hope, and the charity is not ruling out future donations, said Livestrong spokeswoman Katherine McLane. Athletes for Hope sometimes points athletes interested in fighting cancer toward Livestrong and other charities with similar goals.
Three people close to Armstrong still have places on the Athletes for Hope Board: his lawyer Mark Levinstein, Livestrong President Doug Ulman and Armstrong's agent Bill Stapleton.
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