Ex Armstrong physician challenges The Program's release in Italy

(ANSA) - Rome, October 8 - Lawyers representing Dr Michele Ferrari, the physician banned for life for his alleged role in doping scandals, have cautioned distributor Videa from releasing Stephen Frears' film The Program about the seven-times Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in Italian cinemas.
    "Dr Ferrari never gave Lance Armstrong erythropoietin (EPO)," the doctor's lawyers said.
    The lawyers also asked for the film to be confiscated and threatened to sue for damages. The Program is based on the book by Irish sports journalist David Walsh, who had a key role in uncovering the doping programme that saw Armstrong, a testicular cancer survivor, receive a lifetime ban from sport and stripped of all his Tour titles in 2012. Ben Foster stars in the role of Armstrong and Guillaume Canet is Dr Ferrari.