West Coast star Willie Rioli provisionally suspended for duping anti-doping officers
Willie Rioli has broken his silence as he faces a four-year ban for attempting to dupe anti-doping officers. The West Coast star has fled to Darwin after it was discovered a sample wasn’t his urine.
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Willie Rioli has broken his silence as he faces a four-year ban for attempting to dupe anti-doping officers.
The West Coast star has fled to Darwin after it was discovered his sample wasn’t his urine.
Posting on his Facebook page, he wrote: “Just want to thank all my real family and friends for all the love and support through this tough time,” he wrote.
“I’m so so sorry I had to put yous (sic) all through this. We will get through this. I’ve gone through tougher times life support, depression, bullying and we’ve gotten through. Hopefully this lil mistake is a lesson to be learnt. This definitely doesn’t define me as a person.
“Love yous all.”
Willie Rioli has broken his silence on Facebook.
— SuperFooty (AFL) (@superfooty) September 13, 2019
📠| https://t.co/SyPHmqUG0Z pic.twitter.com/Ro35U5a1wf
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority testers only confirmed this week that a urine sample given by Rioli during a drug test was something else.
“I think they (testers) were only clear in the final result when the result came through from ASADA on Wednesday that it wasn’t urine,” McLachlan told 3AW this morning.
McLachlan said the AFL was first notified by ASADA on Wednesday.
“We issued the notice on Wednesday for provisional suspension and West Coast were travelling by then,” he said.
“West Coast arrived in Melbourne from Perth that night and it was issued that night.
“In the end they (West Coast) accept the suspension and they will be fully co-operative and their focus, I know, is working with Willie and making sure Willie’s okay.
“This is clearly a case that’s different from the standard ones. I’m sure it will take some time.”
Rioli last night flew into Darwin to be with family.
He took a late night flight from Sydney to the Northern Territory capital following his suspension, a passenger on the flight claiming he was with a West Coast manager and embraced by family when he arrived.
Sources have told the Herald Sun the Eagles livewire had been caught pouring a liquid — possibly an energy drink — into a drug-test beaker in a panicked attempt to dupe anti-doping officers.
Rioli, 24, is out of tonight’s semi-final showdown against Geelong at the MCG after being suspended on Wednesday night over an “adverse analytical finding” that there was a “urine substitution”.
He had been caught by two officers overseeing a test in Perth on August 20, insiders say, amid speculation the substance was an energy drink.
Following Rioli’s adverse test finding, he would then have been forced to provide a legitimate sample, the test results of which had not yet been revealed, an insider claimed.
“He tried to manipulate his sample on-site and got caught red-handed,” a source said.
Rioli will remain sidelined until a joint ASADA-AFL investigation is completed. He faces a maximum four-year ban.
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The urine test on the small forward was conducted two days after the Eagles lost to Richmond in Round 22 at the MCG on August 18.
“It’s something other than urine that has been produced by Willie as part of the testing process,” Eagles football boss Craig Vozzo confirmed yesterday after the AFL revealed the suspension.
Under ASADA’s strict testing code, players are required to provide a minimum of 90ml of urine, which is immediately poured into A and B sample bottles.
These are securely shut and can only be reopened by a special lab machine.
Rioli’s mobile phone was confiscated by the Eagles, with the club reeling over the shock suspension.
He had flown to Melbourne with teammates on Wednesday and was informed of the suspension by league investigators on the team’s arrival at the Parkview Hotel on St Kilda Rd.
In regard to the Willie Rioli announcement, he has not tested positive to a banned substance. The AFL presser is that his sample allegedly shows urine substitution. So it is more a tampering /substitution allegation.
— Richard Ings (@ringsau) September 12, 2019
A most serious allegation.
Addressing a snap press conference, Vozzo said Rioli would not have been able to play even if he had not been ruled out.
“He is very, very flat. He’s a little bit of a mess,” Vozzo said.
“The club and staff are really worried about his wellbeing. He is not in a great space and it’s our job to help him as best as we can.”
“The state he is in now, I don’t know if he would be able to play,” said Vozzo.
Asked what Rioli was alleged to have done, he said it would be the subject of a “detailed inquiry” that would unfold over many weeks.
Rioli had left the team ahead of tonights’s match, Vozzo said.
Given Rioli was caught more than three weeks ago, questions have been raised as to why he was able to play two more AFL games, including the knockout final against Essendon, before being suspended.
AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon said yesterday: “The provisional suspension is effective immediately. Rioli will not be eligible to compete in AFL competitions or any WADA-compliant sport including the WAFL while provisionally suspended.
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“He will be able to train prior to final determination of the asserted code violation.”
The Eagles have engaged top silk David Grace, QC, who represented the Essendon 34 during the Bombers’ drug scandal.
An ASADA spokesman said: “This is an operational matter and as such we won’t be making a comment at this stage.”
Last night, the Eagles were out from $1.90 to $2 with bookmaker TAB for tonight’s clash with Geelong.
Rioli has played 14 games this year, averaging 6.6 score involvements and kicking 18 goals.
The speedster kicked one goal in each of West Coast’s three finals last year, including the Grand Final.
HOW IT UNFOLDED
August 18 - Willie Rioli kicks two goals in the Eagles’ six-point, Round 22 loss to Richmond at the MCG
August 20 - Drug test conducted
August 24 - Rioli boots three goals in a shock 38-point Round 23 loss to Hawthorn in Perth
September 5 - Rioli has 15 possessions in a 55-point win over Essendon in the first Elimination Final in Perth
Wednesday - ASADA informs the AFL of the result of Rioli’s drug test and Rioli is formally notified of his suspension upon arriving in Melbourne
Yesterday at 4.20pm - News breaks of Rioli’s “adverse analytical finding for urine substitution’’ and subsequent suspension
WHAT THE EAGLES ARE LOSING AFTER RIOLI BAN
Two days before his fateful drug test, Willie Rioli took on the Tigers at the home of football.
In what could be his last game at the MCG for some time, the clever forward with the famous footballing surname slotted two goals, weaving his magic in a heavyweight clash against Richmond that went down to the wire.
Unsurprisingly, the 77kg dynamo was electric early.
Showing why he is considered one of the game’s most exciting small forwards, Rioli, 24, picked Nick Vlastuin’s pocket as the Tiger defender juggled a mark near the 50m line in the first term.
Tearing past at full speed, Rioli effortlessly gathered the ball and curled home his first major on his right foot as West Coast shot out to an 11-point lead.
It always looks so easy for Rioli. The way he burns off his opponents and then nails the classy finish.
But what his teammates truly love is his workrate. There’s respect aplenty for his desperate defensive efforts and his reputation at West Coast as one of its hardest runners.
That’s why he became an integral cog in the Eagles’ forward line in the stunning 2018 premiership in his debut AFL season.
Rioli finished with two majors and 12 disposals in the six-point loss to Richmond in Round 22, a small hiccup for the Eagles on the eve of the finals.
Richmond piled on six goals in the last term as the rain tumbled down and the Tigers’ stars got on top to brush aside the reigning premier.
For Rioli, the back-to-back premiership dream was certainly still alive.
But what happened two days later when the Eagles’ fan favourite was asked to submit a random drug test, and potentially panicked in the moment, has changed his life forever.
Tampering with a urine sample is a considerable sin. One that could sideline him for up to four years.
Since that day at the MCG, he has played two more games — against Hawthorn and Essendon — in Perth.
- Jay Clark.
Originally published as West Coast star Willie Rioli provisionally suspended for duping anti-doping officers