Stick with code, says WADA

[Sedat]

There's a lot of hot air being written and spoken about by the footy scribes, but whenever The Age call in their investigative journos (you know, proper journos that do this sort of investigative stuff for a living), their articles on this topic are well worth reading - http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...722-2qf3x.html

So courtesy of the Baker & McKenzie articles on this issue, we now have:

1. Charter, Dank and Hird discussing a supplement program at a pre-season camp.
   
2. Evans and Hird being briefed on the drug AOD, which is in trial stage, with a potential to invest.
   
3. Doctor shopping at least 5 doctors (excluding Essendon club doctor, Reid) in order to gain prescriptions to use via a compounding chemist, in the mistaken belief this would circumvent the s0 clause of WADA in regard to AOD.
   
4. Charter supplying Dank with copious amounts of TB-4 (a prohibited s2 drug) in 2012.
   
5. Dank used TB-4 at Cronulla in 2011.
   
6. Charters TB-4 dosage instructions to Dank match the dosage instructions on the EFC Thymosin consent forms.
   
7. Dank text to Hird that Thymosin is starting this week "and wait til you see the results".
   
8. Dank admits to Baker & McKenzie that he used TB-4 at Essendon, before retracting when told that EFC haven't admitted such.
   
9. Invoices received and paid by EFC for TB-4 and Hexarelin (also prohibited under s2 clause).

None of the above has yet to be refuted by EFC. Whatever assurances/sweetheart deals they were previously given by Andy D and the AFL have been blown to smithereens now I suspect. Self-preservation will now be the order of the day at AFL House.

Also apparently Andrew Jarman let fly on Adelaide radio today with some rumours on possible sanctions for Essendon "from a reliable source" - I'll let our Adelaide woofers comment on Jarman's track record in breaking such stories. He reckons:

* Report will be released by the end of August.
* Hird and Thompson both sacked.
* Docked of all points, no finals this year.
* Player bans looking awfully serious.
* Roos virtually locked in as coach for 2014.

I find that last point almost impossible to believe, especially if the playing group turns on the club (if they are banned) and starts to break up. Roos wouldn't want to do a 'Pagan' at Carlton and take over a rotting corpse.

[Ghost Dog]

Great Post Sedat.

I'm reminded by the final scene of Fargo, where some pathetic loser who just chopped up his mate and put him into a snow machine sits handcuffed in the back of a squad car. The cop laments " All this for a little money". Highly foolish for dubious results.
The part in the article about trying to circumvent WADA rules is pure insanity.

Have done serious damage to the greater good of our sport.

[GVGjr]

Did anyone hear Rebecca Wilson on SEN last night?

She basically said that the AFL, Essendon and ASADA have already brokered a deal.

I will try and find if her article has been published

[Ghost Dog]

Did you mean news to the effect of this GVG?

http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/n...9#.Ue5K3tKbcVg

The NRL are seething.

Counter to that, I read this in The Australian

Former ASADA boss Richard Ings said he was "speechless" that ASADA could consider doing a deal on penalties months before the investigation was completed.
Ings said today that ASADA had no power to cut a deal on penalties for any drug violations.

"I am trying to imagine a scenario of canvassing reduced fault options in such terms before completing an investigation," he said on Twitter.

"Outlining all categories of fault is fine. Presupposing actual fault collectively pre-investigation is another entirely IMO (in my opinion)."

If they get off, fans start a grassroots campaign to boycott Essendon games.
to have clubs setting up offsite clinics, where players are injected 40 times a season with substances not approved for human use is insane. And if the AFL wants to play captain morality for the wider community on recreational drugs, they can't let this through to the keeper.

[The Adelaide Connection]

Did anyone hear Rebecca Wilson on SEN last night?

She basically said that the AFL, Essendon and ASADA have already brokered a deal.

I will try and find if her article has been published

Has anyone else found the timeline for the release of the findings ("sometime in August") extremely suspect?

I have always had a feeling that the AFL had some kind of deal in place and I suspect it may have also stretched to the timing of the release of the findings.

Essendon will be pulled from finals, player suspensions or not. The AFL will have to hand down some form of punishment against the club. Being allowed to finish the season and start the next with a full list will be an excellent result for the club.

What it will do will allow another team to take their place, with no impact on the fixture, broadcast rights, and limited impact on the AFL purse (aside bringing in a smaller team for a powerhouse).

The real kicker is that if the report and sanctions are held till after the season ends, the AFL are able to fulfil all contractual obligations with broadcasters and stadiums for the Home and away (as well as continue to derive coin from their remaining fixtures). If Essendon were pulled early it would have had huge financial implications on not only the club but also significantly to the AFL. My bet is the AFL will donate a princely sum to ASADA to thank them for their good work and help with the war on drugs.

[FrediKanoute]

My take on sanctions is simple. Essendon has to be deregistered. The systematic nature in which the organisation has sought to cheat the AFL warrants no other possible sanction. This wasn't some accidental misuse of a banned substance this was a planned and systematic program aimed at obtaining an advantage through illegal means. Its no difference to Ben Johnson and the East German training regime.

The club hasn't just broken the rules of the competition, but have broken International standards which apply to ALL sports who have signed up to the WADA code. It goes beyond the AFL and is a direct attack on the very nature of Australian sport.

Finally, subjecting players to drugs and making them sign consents and waivers with the implied threat that they wont be selected is akin to holding a needle to their vein. Why should an organisation who has the capacity to do this even be trusted to take on the responsibility of developing young footballers into men?

I don't care if they are Essendon with 60k members and a huge amount of TV followers. Their supporters if they had an ounce of appreciation for what their players have been subjected to should be disgusted. I would be.

[bulldogtragic]

My take on sanctions is simple. Essendon has to be deregistered. The systematic nature in which the organisation has sought to cheat the AFL warrants no other possible sanction. This wasn't some accidental misuse of a banned substance this was a planned and systematic program aimed at obtaining an advantage through illegal means. Its no difference to Ben Johnson and the East German training regime.

The club hasn't just broken the rules of the competition, but have broken International standards which apply to ALL sports who have signed up to the WADA code. It goes beyond the AFL and is a direct attack on the very nature of Australian sport.

Finally, subjecting players to drugs and making them sign consents and waivers with the implied threat that they wont be selected is akin to holding a needle to their vein. Why should an organisation who has the capacity to do this even be trusted to take on the responsibility of developing young footballers into men?

I don't care if they are Essendon with 60k members and a huge amount of TV followers. Their supporters if they had an ounce of appreciation for what their players have been subjected to should be disgusted. I would be.

I agree 100%. Vlad won't.

Which makes it a bigger scandal!

[anfo27]

With the stories coming out that the AFL & ASADA were working out a deal from day 1, isn't Vlad himself bringing the game into disrepute?

I'm disgusted at this story & the lengths Vlad will go to to protect his precious television rights. He needs to resign as he does not have the best interests of the game at heart.

[GVGjr]

Did you mean news to the effect of this GVG?

Yes, that is it GD.

[Ghost Dog]

I agree with Robbo on 360. The Australian people will not stand for an unjust call on this. Supporters from all clubs will be right onto it.

( I do not normally agree with Robbo, don't have much time for him ).

[Maddog37]

With the stories coming out that the AFL & ASADA were working out a deal from day 1, isn't Vlad himself bringing the game into disrepute?

I'm disgusted at this story & the lengths Vlad will go to to protect his precious television rights. He needs to resign as he does not have the best interests of the game at heart.

The buck stops with Vlad IMHO. He had knowledge and issues a warning but fails to act. The whole league has been brought into disrepute on his watch. Shameful day for our great sport.......

[LostDoggy]

I agree with Robbo on 360. The Australian people will not stand for an unjust call on this. Supporters from all clubs will be right onto it.

I would hope they won't stand for it, but I'm not so positive. We already have plenty of Essendon fans spinning themselves in knots trying to defend their club. If the media spin and theatre is played out in just the right way, you'd be surprised what the “Australian people” will stand for.

[KT31]

I agree with Robbo on 360. The Australian people will not stand for an unjust call on this. Supporters from all clubs will be right onto it.

You would hope it would not only be supporters, all AFL clubs, opposition sporting code's and the general public will have a big say.

IMO this is bigger than the Armstrong debacle, he took his drugs willingly and knew exactly what he was doing.
I cannot believe that the AFL is trying to sweep this under the carpet.
As soon as Watson admitted to taking an illegal substance he should have been suspended.
The drugs are not approved for human use and if the players are to believed that they had know idea what was being injected into their bodies, (call me sceptical but I find this very hard to believe).
This is human experimentation and I believe they not only deserve everything and more that could be thrown at them, criminal charges should be laid on those that were in the know.

[Ghost Dog]

Woke up this morning, and yes, I may be far too optimistic on the correct outcome. Have a read of this B.S.

Justin Smith (3AW) asked Gillion McLachlan: “If a club came to you and they said we're thinking of sticking this in the players, can you give us the AFL's position because it's unclear, can I put it in the player or not?”

To which McLachlan replied: “Our position would be 'No', without saying you definitely can't.” Utter spin.

Where is Vlad? on leave. Great leadership eh?

GVG, an article today that runs counter to the one about a " leaked document" from News. All hot air, says the Australian.

Link

Still, Ings, the former boss of ASADA says he can't see a path whereby players will escape bans that include games.

[Sedat]

http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/the...-1226684212593

Grab the popcorn, sit down and enjoy the show. It's about to get very interesting by the looks.