AFL adopts new illicit drugs code for match-day positive tests

AFL players who test positive for illicit drugs on match-day face more appropriate penalties which is likely to deter them from evading detection.

AFL players caught with cannabis in their system could face bans of as little as four weeks under changes in line with the WADA code adopted by the league this year.

West Coast forward Willie Rioli’s 18-month nightmare finally finished on Thursday when he was handed a two-year suspension for three doping breaches.

They included Rioli topping up or substituting a urine sample with an energy drink, presumably to avoid detection for cannabis use that was eventually discovered in a September 2019 in-competition test.

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But the AFL’s anti-doping code now gives much more discretion to allow a more appropriate penalty for the use of cannabis and other illicit drugs that are not performance-enhancing.

As of January 1, the penalty is three months if the athlete can show he consumed the drug out of competition and it was not of a performance-enhancing nature.

There is also discretion to reduce it to as little as four weeks if the athlete is prepared to undergo rehabilitation for the drug issues.

Even if the test is on match-day and not out of competition the athlete can attempt to prove he did not actually consume the substance on the day of competition.

Rioli’s urine tampering charge would still receive a hefty ban but presumably he would not have tried so hard to avoid detection if the penalty was much lower.

West Coast football boss Craig Vozzo said this week the Eagles had ramped up their education policies around anti-doping in the time since Rioli’s breaches.

His initial urine substitution breach came at a training session – not on match-day – so he would have received no penalty under the WADA code.

The AFL will this year review its own illicit drugs policy – separate to its anti-doping policy – but is unlikely to make significant changes to the education-based model.

The AFLPA and the league through its legal boss Andrew Dillon will work on continuing the policy, which sees players only suspended for a second illicit drug strike.

Critics say players who have been named and shamed for illicit drug use separate to the policy have quickly altered their behaviour, with new Saint Brad Crouch one to be exposed for cocaine use late last year.

But the AFLPA is adamant that the anonymous nature of the code’s model, which sees players handed suspended fines and counselled but not named, allows them to change their behaviour without public scrutiny.

Rioli’s shock return set after doping ban

West Coast small forward Willie Rioli will be able to make an emotional return to football in Round 23 after a potential four-year doping ban was cut in half.

Rioli will be eligible to play again on August 20, and train with West coast on June 20, with ASADA and WADA not planning to appeal the league’s anti-doping sentence.

The league revealed on Thursday that Rioli was guilty of a trio of offences, including twice attempting to use a prohibited method of urine substitution.

Rioli had accepted a provisional sentence that was backdated to August 20, 2019 with the league conceding delays in his final sentence were “not attributable to Mr Rioli”.

He was forced from football in August 2019 for an adverse analytical finding for substituting a urine sample for what the Herald Sun understands was an energy drink.

Only a month later a urine test for metabolite of cannabis on match day was found to be positive from a sample given before his provisional ban, with the league stating yesterday he was also guilty of urine substitution on that occasion.

Willie Rioli could return to the Eagles this season. Picture: Getty

It is understood the testers were still able to correctly secure a urine sample after that breach which showed traces of cannabis.

He has always stated to confidantes that he felt pressured to get out onto the training track so made the urine substitution after struggling to produce a sample.

The league said in a statement his testimony and admissions of guilt had helped minimise his sentence.

“The Tribunal reduced the maximum available period of ineligibility of four years to two years on the basis of the Prompt Admission defence in clause 17.6(c) of the applicable Code, being the maximum available reduction available which the Tribunal considered appropriate in all of the circumstances,” it said.

“Further, the Tribunal found that there were substantial delays in the hearing process or other aspects of doping control that were not attributable to Mr Rioli and on that basis concluded that the period of ineligibility should run from the date of the initial Sample collection (i.e. 20 August 2019).”

ASADA’s decision not to appeal the ban means he does not have to be fearful of the kind of issues that saw Essendon’s players eventually suspended during their multi-year hell.

Rioli can be thankful that his potential four-year ban has been cut in half, and yet changes to WADA rules will see much more lenient treatment of cannabis-based issues in coming years.

He has been in limbo while living with his family in the Tiwi Islands for much of that ban.

Rioli’s last game was the September 9, 2019 elimination final against Essendon where he was at his dashing best with 15 possessions and a goal.

Rioli is contracted until the end of 2022, with West Coast always adamant it would stand by him despite his ordeal.