ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

[Sedat]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/wada-wants-essendon-case-heard-in-switzerland-20150519-gh5ath.html

The EFC and AFL are now starting to realise just how miniscule and irrelevant they are in the global sporting landscape.

[Greystache]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

So the AFL are furious WADA want to have the case heard outside of their sphere of control in an attempt to have an impartial hearing. The concept of a legitimate process is so foreign to the AFL that they are incredulous when someone tries to introduce it.

[1eyedog]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...19-gh5ath.html
The EFC and AFL are now starting to realise just how miniscule and irrelevant they are in the global sporting landscape.

You always said it would come to this...

I guess the last chapter will be a Book of Revelations scenario for the EFC where players sue the club.

[Maddog37]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

Little stating the club doesn't want to drag things out is perhaps one of the most hypocritical statements I have ever read.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

Bring. It. On.

[ledge]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

It wouldn't have gone this long if Little and Hird didn't drag it out !!

[jeemak]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I loved that quote. The irony in it is breathtaking:

Essendon chairman Paul Little said at the time the appeal was announced that the club was surprised by the decision but everyone at the club wanted the matter resolved quickly.

"It's early days but I would've thought it probably could be heard reasonably quickly unless the club decides to, in some way, drag the process out. And I can assure you that's not what we want," he said.


They're actually so brazen in their arrogance it would almost be admirable, if they weren't such mediocre pricks.

[Ghost Dog]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-new...19-gh5ath.html
The EFC and AFL are now starting to realise just how miniscule and irrelevant they are in the global sporting landscape.

Well said Sedat. You must have felt a bit vindicated after you read the news. Have been enjoying your commentary in this forum.
Now the penny drops for Essendon, that they may be taken out of their little protectionist enclave of comfort and be forced to dance the waltz in Switzerland. Can only be good for Australian sport to have this done offshore.

[Rocket Science]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

...and via The Australian : "First Lance, now Bombers in sights"

"The lawyer who brought down notorious drug cheats Marion Jones, Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong will present the World Anti-Doping Agency’s case against 34 current and former footballers accused of taking a banned peptide.

Richard Young, a US-based anti-doping expert who helped draft the original World Anti-Doping Code, has agreed prosecute the case against Essendon to be heard before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport."

"The inclusion of Young in the WADA legal team reflects the importance the case has taken on within the broader anti-doping movement after the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority failed to prove its case against the footballers before an AFL tribunal."

"A decision on where and when the CAS hearing will be heard will be determined after the three panel members who will hear the case are chosen."

Hard to see this ending well, for either Essendon or the AFL. And due in no small part to the arrogance of both.

[bulldogtragic]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

If they are worried they should be. Young has got big scalps like Johnny Cochrane has got big acquittals in the US.

Crameri should just take the two weeks, it's the safest bet.

[Dancin' Douggy]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

...and via The Australian : "First Lance, now Bombers in sights"

"The lawyer who brought down notorious drug cheats Marion Jones, Floyd Landis and Lance Armstrong will present the World Anti-Doping Agency’s case against 34 current and former footballers accused of taking a banned peptide.

Richard Young, a US-based anti-doping expert who helped draft the original World Anti-Doping Code, has agreed prosecute the case against Essendon to be heard before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport."

"The inclusion of Young in the WADA legal team reflects the importance the case has taken on within the broader anti-doping movement after the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority failed to prove its case against the footballers before an AFL tribunal."

"A decision on where and when the CAS hearing will be heard will be determined after the three panel members who will hear the case are chosen."

Hard to see this ending well, for either Essendon or the AFL. And due in no small part to the arrogance of both.

Awesome news

[Remi Moses]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

What about the form of Alan T Hird ( rather apt)
Letters to the sports minister complaining about his boys treatment .
Rather staggering was the complaint about ASADA suspending his son and kicking the team out of the finals!
what a mindless rant as the AFL suspended the team and his narcissistic son . Suspensions Accepted by the club

[Twodogs]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

I'd be asking dad not to do me any more favours.

[comrade]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

So the AFL are furious WADA want to have the case heard outside of their sphere of control in an attempt to have an impartial hearing. The concept of a legitimate process is so foreign to the AFL that they are incredulous when someone tries to introduce it.

That's why I don't get it when Essendon fans (and Ings) are in uproar that WADA are just trying to get the same case reheard in the hope that another group of people will come to a different conclusion than the AFL.

Umm, duh!

The AFL, with all its vested interest in the Bombers being found not guilty, should have never been given the responsibility to adjudicate.

As if they were ever going to wipe out a cash cow like Essendon...

[Webby]

Re: ASADA issues show-cause notices to Essendon players

The AFL, with all its vested interest in the Bombers being found not guilty, should have never been given the responsibility to adjudicate.

As Fonzie would say, "Exactamondo!"

Honestly, if the Brunswick McDonald's breached a public health code to such a serious extent that the entire McDonald's business was under threat of serious, serious damage, do you really think a McDonald's Corporation funded tribunal would ever find them guilty?!

WADA found Lance Armstrong (quite rightly) guilty on the balance of evidence. Think about the term "balance of evidence" for a moment. This is where the ambiguity comes into play. It's where a ajudicator's bias (conscious or unconscious) enters centre stage.

The AFL "independent" Tribunal clearly dismissed evidence as inadmissible. They dismissed much of the body of evidence in making their verdict. There was testimony from individuals which was dismissed as "well... It's only one chick who testified to that point, so it's not really credible, is it?".... I'm afraid, WADA don't see it that way. Anyone remember the Lance Armstrong case and his ex-teammate's wife's testimony which was dismissed for over a decade?? WADA do NOT want a repeat of that scenario.

Oh, and believe me, this is the equivalent of a tennis player winning a satellite tournament on grass and now stepping up to Roland Garros and the French Open. It's a huge step up in class and a completely different playing surface! And the umpires are no longer home-towners! WADA will NOT apply the same stringent "burden of proof" criteria as the AFL tribunal. WADA have a lot of power. The Australian Sports Commission will NOT want to put them off side. The ramifications will be huge. Our international reputation will be in tatters. Every Australian team that competes abroad will be tainted and perhaps scrutinised as a result.

This saga is now well and truly on their radar. In my opinion, the AFL pop-gun tribunal was cleverly run as a done deal prior to it even beginning. They cleverly and conveniently applied a very stringent set of criteria for admissible and inadmissible evidence. This is where Gerard Whately's brilliant grilling of James Hird on AFL 360 was directed. The question of guilt was never even considered.

Point is, the CAS adjudicators will apply a far less narrow set of criteria on what is admissible than that which the AFL tribunal applied. In legal terms, it's become a Test match played on Indian pitches rather than Australian ones. And WADA have some very good spinners and some very open-minded umpires!!

Game on!

Essendon FC would be very, very worried!