Essendon saga the most damaging episode in football history, board members should resign
THE AFL’s arrogance in attempting to manipulate the outcome of the sordid doping affair has backfired and now surely there must be scrutiny of CEO Gillon McLachlan’s handling of the case, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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THE systematic doping of 34 players has dragged Australia’s most popular sporting code through the mud.
The Essendon saga will be remembered as the most damaging episode in football history.
After more than 1000 days of subterfuge and innuendo the players, 17 of whom are still within the AFL system, have been handed two-year bans commencing from March 31, 2015.
It may be a desperately sad day for football but it’s a great day for upholding the integrity of sport.
The moment that the Word Anti-Doping Agency took the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, appealing the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal’s decision, the AFL lost any semblance of control it had over the scandal.
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ESSENDON SAGA: HOW WE GOT HERE
The league’s arrogance in attempting to manipulate the outcome of this sordid affair has backfired spectacularly and now surely there must be scrutiny of CEO Gillon McLachlan’s handling of the case.
There are also several board members at Essendon who should hand in their resignations today.
It’s worth remembering that the players could’ve taken deals, similar to the ones accepted by Cronulla Sharks’ players, and ended this saga in 2014.
Those close to the case say that it was the players’ own evidence during the CAS hearing that ultimately sealed their fate.
The guilty CAS verdict and penalty signifies to the sporting world that professional footballers are not above the rules that apply to every other athlete under the WADA code.
It’s a triumph for ASADA’s Ben McDevitt who took over a fractured, and some would argue compromised, investigation and refused to take a backward step.
Today he was damning in his assessment of the club and the players who never seriously questioned the reckless doping regimen.
“This unfortunate episode has chronicled the most devastating self-inflicted injury by a sporting club in Australian history,” McDevitt said.
“There were very little grounds for the players to claim they were at no significant fault.
“The players had received anti-doping education through the AFL and ASADA, and were well aware that they are personally responsible for all substances that entered their body.
“Unfortunately, despite their education, they agreed to be injected with a number of substances they had little knowledge of, made no enquiries about the substance and kept the injections from their team doctor and ASADA.
“Of 30 ASADA testing missions during the period in question, none of the 18 players tested declared the injections, despite being asked each time whether they had taken any supplements.
“At best, the players did not ask the questions, or the people, they should have. At worst, they were complicit in a culture of secrecy and concealment.”
But if you listen to the fanboys of the football media, the players are nothing more than innocent victims and any penalty against them is a miscarriage of justice.
The insular footy world is so used to treating grown men like children that the prospect of adults being held to account for their own actions seems utterly unfair.
After more than three seasons of vicious self-flagellation the fans, players and clubs can begin to move on from the most damaging saga to have afflicted the game.
However, it won’t be the last we hear of the Essendon drugs scandal; multiple lawsuits against the club and perhaps even the league are expected in the coming months.
From here on every footballer knows that they, and they alone, are ultimately responsible for what is in their body.
Under the WADA rules there is no “get out of jail free card” for those who have taken a banned substance unknowingly.
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