West Coast expects Willie Rioli to face hearing this year for alleged tampering
West Coast has revealed when it expects banned forward Willie Rioli to face a hearing over tampering allegations as he faces a maximum four-yean ban from football.
AFL
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Banned West Coast premiership forward Willie Rioli has finally received clarity over his future, 12 months since receiving a provisional ban from ASADA.
The 25-year-old is facing a maximum four-year suspension for allegedly tampering with his urine sample during a routine sample last August.
A matter of weeks later, Rioli also tested positive to cannabis on game day, which is against the AFL’s protocols.
The 38-gamer has been in limbo as he awaits an update on his case with ASADA, but his club has provided an welcome update on the situation.
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“We’re expecting that there’ll be a hearing later in the year,” West Coast General Manager of Football Craig Vozzo said.
“We are just working through the pre-hearing document side of things where you lodge the appropriate position and response.”
The update comes following a busy 24-hour period for the 2018 premiers, during which they were snubbed for AFL grand hosting rights, as well as preliminary final rights, should they earn it.
AFL boss Gillon McLachlan cited Western Australia’s hard border and quarantine rules as too challenging, with the minimum seven-day hard quarantine preventing the club from hosting the second week of finals.
“It would have been great to have played the Grand Final at Optus Stadium, in front of a crowd of potentially 60,000 fans, but the quarantine conditions that are in place in Western Australia make that problematic,” club CEO Trevor Nisbett said.
“Again, we understand the reasons behind the strict protocols in place in Western Australia and our State Government has a done a good job containing the virus, but it was another obstacle.
“Like everyone we consider the health and safety of all Western Australians to be the priority.”
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Originally published as West Coast expects Willie Rioli to face hearing this year for alleged tampering
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