AFL: Essendon 34 CAS appeal fails, Jobe Watson Brownlow in doubt
UPDATE: THE AFL has set a date for a decision on Jobe Watson’s Brownlow as Essendon players weigh up whether to continue their fight after losing their latest appeal. Read a translation of the appeal findings here.
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- Jon Ralph opinion: AFL must strip Watson of his Brownlow
- Mark Robinson opinion: Jobe should keep medal
UPDATE: THE AFL has set a date for a decision on Jobe Watson’s Brownlow as Essendon players weigh up whether to continue their fight after losing their latest appeal.
The AFL Commission will meet on November 15 and make a call on stripping Watson of the game’s highest honour.
His medal is in extreme doubt after the Essendon 34’s latest appeal against their doping ban was rejected by a Swiss court. It emerged today runners-up Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin were asked to make submissions to the AFL about the fate of the 2012 award.
Yet another appeal in the never-ending 1345-day Essendon drug saga is not out of the question despite ASADA’s insistence that the case is closed.
Today’s Herald Sun revealed lawyers in the case were exploring taking the players’ fight to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
The move would require one of the Essendon 34 agreeing to push on in the fight to clear his teammates’ names.
Representatives of the players have indicated that most, if not all 34 players, are exhausted by the four-year saga and unlikely to agree to a last-ditch appeal. But lawyers are in talks over their next move.
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ASADA Media Statement: Essendon appeal rejected https://t.co/PtxwCii4l8 pic.twitter.com/X5yEWbK1vN
— ASADA Anti-Doping (@anti_doping) October 12, 2016
The latest twist in the saga comes as ASADA declares the case settled, welcoming the decision of a Swiss Federal Tribunal rejecting the 34 player’s appeal last night.
“You cannot agree to the rules and then expect them to change if you don’t like the outcome,” ASADA CEO Ben McDevitt said in a statement.
“Furthermore CAS exists for the very reason of ensuring sports matters are heard fairly and independently, so it is essential that they be able to review all evidence and are not limited by the findings of sports tribunals.”
WATSON WAITS
The biggest news following the Swiss Tribunal’s decision rests around whether Watson will lose his 2012 Brownlow Medal.
The AFL has previously said it would wait until the Swiss Federal Tribunal ruling before deciding whether to strip Watson of the game’s highest individual honour.
Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd said on Wednesday morning he expects the AFL will ask Watson to hand back his Brownlow.
“I’m devastated for him. He was badly let down like the other 33 players were by Stephen Dank and the program at Essendon,” Lloyd said on Channel 9.
“He thought he was taking supplements and those sorts of things and he’s been let down badly, but unfortunately he’s unlikely to keep it (the Brownlow).”
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Watson last month decided to stay at Essendon.
Supporters of the star midfielder have urged the league to let him keep the medal because of the extenuating circumstances surrounding the Bombers’ 2012 drug program.
But a decision to allow him to keep the Brownlow would likely provoke local and international condemnation. It has been suggested Watson could voluntarily return the medal before the AFL Commission considers the issue.
Should the AFL strip Watson of the medal, it must then decide whether to award the 2012 Brownlow to joint runners-up Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell, or have a year without a winner.
JON RALPH OPINION: AFL MUST STRIP JOBE OF HIS BROWNLOW
MARK ROBINSON OPINION: JOBE SHOULD KEEP MEDAL
Dual Brownlow medallist Chris Judd last month said the commission must strip Watson of his medal should the appeal fail.
“I couldn’t see, if they got found guilty, him being allowed to keep the Brownlow,” Judd said. “Whether that’s fair is a different question. In terms of a legal outcome, it would be hard to see any other outcome happening.”
The Swiss Federal Tribunal decision will also further complicate ongoing compensation claims by the 34 players and their legal teams.
Stephen Dank, the architect of the injecting program, has insisted he did not use thymosin beta-4.
The AFL Players Association said last night it had informed players and their agents.
“The decision is written in German and it must now be translated into English to allow the lawyers for the players to review the reasons of the court,’’ the AFLPA statement said.
“As such, we are not in a position to elaborate any further on the court’s decision at this point in time.”
Essendon Football Club Chairman Lindsay Tanner said the club maintained its view that the penalty handed to the players was unfair.
“It is obviously disappointing for our players,” he said.
“The club respected and supported the players decision to exercise the only legal right to appeal they had in this process.
“We maintain our view that the decision and penalty handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport was manifestly unfair on our players.
“The club will not be making any further comment at this point in time.”
CAS last night released its translation of the tribunal’s findings, which states the appeal failed as “the players did not formally challenge the jurisdiction of CAS during the arbitration procedure and accepted the application of the CAS Rules”.
CAS’s translation states even if the players had properly made the challenge it would have been dismissed.
Several prominent retired Federal Court and High Court judges had written submissions on behalf of the players arguing that there were no proper legal grounds for World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal to CAS last year.
That CAS verdict sensationally overturned an AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal decision that the players were not guilty of doping in 2012.
Watson is yet to comment on the appeal decision.
He recently attended his sister’s wedding in Bali with glamorous New York model Virginia Slaghekke.
He spoke last month of plans to return to New York before commencing pre-season training.
Ms Slaghekke posted the following picture on Instagram this morning:
michael.warner@heraldsun.com.au
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Originally published as AFL: Essendon 34 CAS appeal fails, Jobe Watson Brownlow in doubt
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