Lance Armstrong is considering publicly admitting that he used banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions during his cycling career, according to The New York Times.

He would do this because he wants to persuade antidoping officials to restore his eligibility so he can resume his athletic career.

He was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping and barred for life from competing in all Olympic sports.

Armstrong has been under pressure from wealthy supporters of Livestrong, the charity he founded after surviving testicular cancer, for him to come forward so he could clear his conscience and save the organization from further damage.

However, several legal cases stand in the way of a confession. These include a federal whistle-blower case, two other civil lawsuits, one that involves the Dallas-based insurance company SCA Promotions and libel case by the British newspaper The Sunday Times.

According to the World Anti-Doping Code, an athlete might be eligible for a reduced punishment if he fully confesses and details how he doped, who helped him dope and how he got away with doping. But a reduced lifetime ban might decrease only to eight years or four, at best.