Cape Town - Disgraced American cyclist Lance Armstrong could face criminal charges of perjury after denying charges of drug use under oath in 2005.

In terms of US law, perjury is classified as a felony and Armstrong, if found guilty, could face up to five years in jail.

According to the Telegraph's website, the possibility of perjury charges relates to a civil arbitration in November 2005, which had been called to adjudicate between Armstrong and his company Tailwind Sports against SCA Promotions and Ted Lyonhamman Insurance Services.

The latter were reluctant to pay out the $5m bonus due to Armstrong after he won his sixth consecutive Tour de France, as rumours spread as to his possible use of performance enhancing drugs. The insurance company and SCA wanted assurances that he was not doping before paying out. However, Armstrong wanted his money so, at his insistence, they went to court to resolve the matter.

Armstrong then denied under oath that he ever took performance enhancing drugs.

This comes after the the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USDA) on Wednesday released a report of more than 1 000 pages long containing the sworn testimony of 26 people, including 15 riders, to the International Cycling Union (UCI), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC).

USADA said the 41-year-old Armstrong, who won the Tour de France seven times, was part of the "most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen".