Bikies, match-fixing fears prompt calls for AFL drug policy overhaul
Australia’s new sports watchdog will urge the AFL to hand over all intelligence it has on illicit drug use of players who fail tests, as a top anti-doping official warns bikies or organised criminals who sell drugs to footballers may threaten them to hand over game information or, in worst case scenarios, help fix outcomes.
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Australia’s new sports watchdog will urge the AFL to hand over all intelligence it has on the illicit drug use of players who fail tests.
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority chief David Sharpe says criminals are increasingly preying on sports stars to get inside information and influence games.
Footballers taking ice, cocaine and ecstasy were vulnerable to bikies and organised criminals who either sold them the drugs, or saw them taking them, Mr Sharpe told the Herald Sun.
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Once compromised, the athletes could be threatened to provide information on game plans, injuries or line-ups, to give criminals an advantage in the betting world.
In worst-case scenarios they could be pressured to help fix an outcome, he said.
“It’s definitely a threat. How many athletes do you see that are frequenting nightclubs and getting free drinks and getting themselves into trouble?
“Or bikies are walking up to them, taking photos with them and hanging around them?
“We are talking about criminals here. People who sell drugs like cocaine are not good people.”
Mr Sharpe said the new watchdog Sports Integrity Australia would not ask for the names of AFL players who tested positive.
These are closely guarded under the league’s contentious three-strikes policy.
But the SIA would seek any information which might emerge from the testing process or other AFL integrity unit probes that may help uncover drug dealers and syndicates.
“Every little bit of intelligence counts: the types of drugs, where they are getting them from and where they are hanging out. What sort of groups they are in,” Mr Sharpe said.
“If you want to eradicate organised crime and vulnerabilities and threats, you need intelligence.”
The AFL declined to comment on Monday night.
Under the league’s illicit drugs policy, players who test positive for the first time are fined $5000 and directed to undergoing counselling, but their identities are kept secret.
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A second strike results in players being publicly identified and suspended for four matches, while a third attracts a 12-game ban.
But those whose use is linked to mental health issues are protected.
“It’s not the names we want, but the intelligence that the sport may be able to share with us,” Mr Sharpe said.
“I see a benefit in us working with the AFL around their policy — not to identify athletes but to identify where the hot spots and the threats may be coming from.
“It’s not about breaching confidentiality, so we do need to work with the codes to help them understand the picture, so we can target resources to the problem.”
Asked if he expected the major Australian sports to play ball with SIA, Mr Sharpe said: “I am quite confident that they will co-operate.
“It’s in their benefit to be able to have a body that is protecting their sport from organised crime. Everybody who has a vested interest in clean sport has a role to play in this.”
ASADA is one of several agencies set to be absorbed by SIA, unveiled by the federal government last week, and Mr Sharpe is among those being considered to run it.
A former Australian Federal Police officer who has pursued drug cartels in Mexico, Colombia and Vietnam, Mr Sharpe said SIA would respect players’ anonymity.
The government launched the SIA as a result of a detailed examination of the integrity of Australian sport, conducted by James Wood QC.
He found the illicit drug-testing regimes were a “significant missed opportunity’’ to protect sport from criminal infiltration.
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