Doping admission could mean prison for Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong could lose much more than his already ravaged reputation if he confesses to doping during a television interview with Oprah Winfrey - he could end up in jail.

"If I were his lawyer, I'd be telling him not to do it. I think he's crazy," said Peter Keane, law professor at Golden Gate University in San Francisco. "He's in considerable jeopardy of some sort of criminal prosecution ... for which he could go to prison."

The threats to Armstrong's liberty stem from the fallen icon's role in the US Postal Service team, where he spent his most successful years in the saddle.

Having been paid by the government, the former team leader could face criminal charges for making fraudulent statements to his bosses.

He could also be accused of perjury over disclosures made under oath to a US federal jury in 2005. If convicted, each false statement could lead to five years in jail.

The pitfalls of speaking to Winfrey, considered the favoured TV forum for "tell all" confessional style interviews, appear to have been weighed, and a decision taken that it was worthwhile to reveal something new.

"I'm anticipating a major announcement," said Jordan Kobritz, chair of the State University of New York at Cortland's International Sport Management graduate programme, noting that Armstrong would otherwise have no reason to talk.