There is absolutely no way a deal can be struck between the AFL and ASADA (who are answerable to WADA). If a sporting legend like Armstrong couldn't escape their wrath, there is no way that a relatively insignificant body such as the Essendon FC is going to be able to have a deal cut for them.

Exactly. Unfortunately, we here in Australia have a slight fortress mentality when it comes to sport. We view Collingwood as a huge club with 70,000 members. Man. U. has more than a million.

The heads of WADA are unlikely to view our charming little native game to be of much significance when penalties are handed down. Andy Demetriou might be able to charm/impress the head of Gaming Victoria to get us off the hook over the tanking investigation but I doubt he has enough clout to get Essendon off the hook with international heavy hitters.

Can anyone provide me with some proof (rather than opinion) that the AFL can cut a deal with ASADA?

I cannot see what benefit it provides ASADA from doing this. The reputational risk to the organisation, the Federal Government and to Australia's international standing in the global sporting world would be severely damaged. The reputational damage to the AFL would be massive as well.

And before someone says AFL is Australian only, if ASADA would cut a deal with the AFL who else would it cut a deal with? Simple as that.

This is a really serious issue beyond the control of the AFL atm. If ASADA finds guilt then its hell of a governance, legal and culpability fiasco that will destroy a club and badly damage the AFL (and therefore MFC).

If ASADA dont find guilt, at the very least Robson, Corcoran, Thompson are in the gun from the Ziggy report. Then there would be the AFL issues.

And what to do about Hird? He claimed to be publicly responsible for what went on in the FD. The Ziggy report was damning on him.

But the members wont want him touched....particularly when they are 6-0. Might be different if they were 0-6.

I wonder what the AFL will do with Hird if ASADA finds an outcome where Hird is derelict in his duties. What a mess in the making.

Investigation will go on until september at least. Essendon will be found guilty of some lesser charge than charging their tank with illicit drugs. 6 month suspension for maybe a player or two which they would begin serving immediately, should be back after missing say the first nab cup match.

 

Investigation will go on until september at least. Essendon will be found guilty of some lesser charge than charging their tank with illicit drugs. 6 month suspension for maybe a player or two which they would begin serving immediately, should be back after missing say the first nab cup match.

 

They wont be able to train or attend the Club or meet with officials. Its not as easy as you make out.

In addition I always thought the penalty is 2 yrs that could be mitigated back to 6 months if you are prepared to give evidence against others.

There is no precedent for a 6 month ban based on "I was duped" or "They told me it was alright".

Doesn't anyone feel sorry for the players?

I know athletes have a responsiblity under the WADA code but these guys aren't Olympic athletes and no one has really even contemplated drug cheating yet alone thinking someone like Hird would set them up to drug cheat. Then they get letters to sign saying its all above board.

You guys do know that the NFL aren't even signed on to WADA because they aren't interested in having these overbearing and largely incompetent bodies oversee them.

I think a fair and proper result from this would be a deal being made for the players.

Now I want to see Essendon suffer for their biochemistry experiment - the president has put himself up for re-election and the head of football is gone but I think the CEO and Danny Corcoran should go and Hird should be sanctioned somehow, but if the players really have had untested substances used on them then thats enough punishment.

 

Doesn't anyone feel sorry for the players?

I know athletes have a responsiblity under the WADA code but these guys aren't Olympic athletes and no one has really even contemplated drug cheating yet alone thinking someone like Hird would set them up to drug cheat. Then they get letters to sign saying its all above board.

You guys do know that the NFL aren't even signed on to WADA because they aren't interested in having these overbearing and largely incompetent bodies oversee them.

I think a fair and proper result from this would be a deal being made for the players.

Now I want to see Essendon suffer for their biochemistry experiment - the president has put himself up for re-election and the head of football is gone but I think the CEO and Danny Corcoran should go and Hird should be sanctioned somehow, but if the players really have had untested substances used on them then thats enough punishment.

The rules are that the athlete is responsible for what they put into their body. All players are instructed and warned about this. Its harsh but there have been plenty of athletes that have suffered due to the harshness of the principle. The bottom line is that the athlete should have asked more.

But Essendon really does need a clean out. If Essendon have a top 4 finish it will be a brave incumbent or prospective president that will punish Hird if ASADA finds him not guilty. The members will storm the Bastille over him.

All the vibes I am getting out of yesterday and todays "drug" articles is that nothing will happen because EFC will ensure that heads will roll (whether guilty or not) which will sate the AFL's need for the footy world to be seen as doing its job and because it is Essendon, a non expendable cog in the AFL wheel (in contrast to the expendable MFC). We are being drip fed by Evans with the AFL's assistance, assurances that the players now have not taken anything prohibitive, that James Hird only took vitamins and melatonin (guilty of wanting a good tan) - all is good with the world but we have got rid of all those nasties that ensured that good governance was not followed. Still no answer on Reid's email and why didn't he follow up his very deep concerns. He was so concerned to write the letter but not so concerned to wonder why there was no direct follow up. We are being conned by the EFC and the AFL (again).

Why do I think that we are going to come out of this worse. Why is it that the Club has admitted to JT possibly using the cream but no Essendon player used anything illegal. Even if EFC are cleared I can never believe anything that comes out of AFL PR mouths.

I would like all the invoices from the chemist who made up the "vials" to be searched and let's see what other Clubs are also on his customer list.

Truth and accountability can never be aligned with the AFL.

ah, well done longsuffering...

Exactly what I was thinking to.

& the good doc who went to the commission & the medical board with his real concerns about potentially harmful & untested products being administered to its players in a secret house.

... no I think I'll just write a letter & give it to the gofer to deliver.

This is from the Australian Crime Commission report entitled "Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport" published February 2013 (p14 para 2) (my italics). Its on the net as a small pdf - google "ACC (in full) PIED".

AOD-9604 is a variant of growth hormone which has fat burning properties and may be

used by athletes to increase power to weight ratios by better utilisation of fat stores.

AOD-9604 is about to enter phase three clinical trials.

12 During phase two clinical trials it

was also found to have an anabolic effect on cartilage tissue and may promote cartilage

creation and repair and have a capacity to enhance muscle formation.

13

AOD-9604 is not currently a WADA prohibited substance.

If AOD9604 is what Essendom players have taken, this suggests they are OK, unless the ACC has got it wrong, which seems unlikely. The same report states that Thymosin Beta 4 is unregulated, but on the S2 banned list, subject to the form used (p16, p40 same report) I know the ACC report isn't the WADA code, but I'm guessing they have researched it fairly thoroughly. There may be other drugs involved, but these are the two which are mentioned most often in what I've seen.