Doping ban ‘stitch-up’: ASADA documents cast doubt over Bombers ruling
Jobe Watson has taken to Twitter to respond to new revelations in the never-ending Essendon supplement saga. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws shed new light on the actions of ASADA the day before the Bombers ‘self-reported’ to the AFL.
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Jobe Watson, who lost his Brownlow Medal in the fallout from Essendon drugs debacle, has weighed in on fresh revelations surrounding the never-ending saga.
Responding to the emergence of documents raising new questions in today’s Herald Sun, the former Bombers captain tweeted: “As I say to my bulldog Benson, if it smells, keep digging.”
Watson, who has barely spoken publicly about the saga that crippled his club, weighed in this afternoon after it was revealed the drug that wiped out the Essendon 34 was only listed as banned by ASADA the day before the club “self-reported” its supplements program in February 2013.
It was several months after the injections had stopped.
As I say to my bulldog Benson, if it smells, keep digging ðŸ¶
— Jobe Watson (@JobeWatson) October 16, 2019
Most of the 2012 Bombers’ squad were banned after the Court of Arbitration for Sport concluded they were repeatedly injected with the WADA “prohibited” substance Thymosin Beta-4.
But an official log reveals the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority “Check Your Substances” site — which athletes and coaches are encouraged to inspect prior to using supplements — did not flag the drug as banned until the afternoon of February 4, 2013.
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The log, obtained under Freedom of Information laws, shows an ASADA official ran a check on the public site for “research” at 10.34am and no flag was generated for Thymosin Beta-4.
Another check on Thymosin Beta-4 just over two hours later at 12.59pm by an ASADA staffer listed it as “banned in sport”. The status update came on the same day AFL boss Andrew Demetriou called Essendon chairman David Evans about a secret investigation into the club’s supplements program, prompting the Bombers to “self-report” to ASADA.
The log revelation, seven years into the doping saga, adds to concerns over the AFL tribunal and Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling that Thymosin Beta-4 was clearly a banned substance during the Bombers’ supplements regimen.
Scientist Bob O’Dea said: “The evidence of a stitch-up is compelling”.
The players’ defence team did not know about the log when they were found guilty in January 2016.
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QUESTIONS OVER EVIDENCE THAT CONVICTED ‘ESSENDON 34’
Questions have also been raised about the update’s timing, with suggestions it was an attempt by some staff to shore up evidence after the fact.
Former ASADA boss Ben McDevitt told a Senate inquiry in March 2016 the Essendon players were culpable because they did not check whether the substance was banned.
“Ultimately the onus rests always on the individual … They (the players) should have gone to the website where you can look up the substances that are banned but we have no evidence that any of them did,” Mr McDevitt said
Separately, Mr McDevitt’s claims that Thymosin Beta-4 was captured under two general classifications of banned substances in WADA’s World Anti-Doping Code prohibited list have been shot down.
Thymosin Beta-4 was not explicitly listed as a banned substance by WADA until January 2018. But Mr McDevitt insisted to the Senate inquiry it was captured in WADA’s prohibited lists under categories “S0 and S2” when it was allegedly being used by Essendon players.
Mr McDevitt’s response to the Senate on March 3, 2016, reads: “The substance Thymosin Beta-4 is prohibited under category S2 of the prohibited list. It is a growth factor affecting muscle, tendon and ligament, vascularisation and regenerative capacity. The substance is also prohibited under category S0 of the prohibited list as it has never been approved by any regulatory agency for human therapeutic use.”
But ASADA has since stated no drug can be captured under two categories, with an email to Mr O’Dea on September 4 this year, saying: “A substance can only be placed within one category in the WADA prohibited list.
“The definition of S0 on the WADA prohibited list excludes substances which are addressed in other sections of the code.”
Mr O’Dea said: “I have been appalled at the lack of scientific rigour that has been applied in the Essendon saga.”
ASADA last night failed to respond to why it added Thymosin Beta-4 to the banned list on its Check Your Substances site in February 2013.
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“Whether or not a substance is listed on ASADA’s former Check Your Substance tool has no bearing on whether a substance is a prohibited substance under the World Anti-Doping Code,” a spokeswoman said.
“Thymosin Beta-4 was a prohibited substance since the commencement of the 2010 WADA prohibited list.”
Anyone searching for a drug that did not flag on the Check Your Substance tool would have been told it did not necessarily mean it was permitted and would be urged to contact ASADA, she said.
She had no comment on the September email that contradicted Mr McDevitt’s advice to the inquiry about the WADA code categories Thymosin Beta-4 was captured in.
Originally published as Doping ban ‘stitch-up’: ASADA documents cast doubt over Bombers ruling