Melbourne forward Joel Smith is pushing to become the first AFL player to access a special anti-doping provision that would enable him to serve a ban of just one month after testing positive to cocaine on the day of a match.
However, Smith’s prospects of having his case expedited by the AFL and Sport Integrity Australia are being frustrated by the lack of an AFL-approved drug treatment program needed to satisfy a requirement of the World Anti-Doping Code.
Smith is the first AFL player to test positive to a drug listed as a “substance of abuse”, a carve-out for commonly used recreational drugs adopted in 2021 by the World Anti-Doping Agency and all signatories to its code.
AFL player Joel Smith is seeking to have his anti-doping case expedited after testing positive to cocaine.Credit: AFL Photos
Under the provision, athletes who test positive to cocaine, ecstasy, heroin or cannabis or their metabolites are offered a three-month suspension instead of the mandatory, four-year penalty for other banned substances – as long as they convince anti-doping authorities they didn’t take the drug to gain a performance benefit.
The penalty can be further reduced to one month if an athlete completes a drug treatment program approved by the organisation with responsibility for managing their anti-doping infraction. In Smith’s case, that organisation is the AFL.
To make practical use of this provision, Smith needs the anti-doping system to move far more quickly than it normally does in Australia, where other recent cases involving AFL footballers and party drugs have taken between a year and 18 months to resolve.
Smith tested positive to cocaine and its metabolite, benzoylecgonine, on August 20 after Melbourne’s round 23 match against Hawthorn. He was formally notified of the test result on October 10 and has already served three weeks of a provisional suspension.
Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin hasn’t spoken to Joel Smith (inset) since October 10, when Smith was notified of his positive drug test.Credit: Getty Images / AFL Photos
The AFL Players Association is representing Smith in his anti-doping case. Due to the confidentiality of anti-doping processes, sources from the AFLPA, AFL and Sport Integrity Australia declined to publicly discuss the case.
This masthead confirmed that Smith had waived his right to have a “B” sample analysed.
Discussions are continuing between the AFL and AFLPA and Melbourne player welfare officials to find a treatment course that will satisfy the anti-doping code.
To access the “substance of abuse” provision Smith must demonstrate that he ingested cocaine before 11.59pm on the day before the match and that, at the time he provided the sample, the concentration of cocaine in his system was below 10 nanograms, or one hundred-millionth of a gram, per millilitre of urine.
In the meantime, Smith is facing the opprobrium of his coach and club. Senior coach Simon Goodwin, in an interview recorded on Sunday, told SEN Radio he had not spoken to his player since the club was notified of his positive test.
“I can only go by how I feel, and when I first heard, I was incredibly angry, frustrated, to think that potentially we have a player in round 23 on the eve of a finals series not doing everything possible to help the success of our footy team,” Goodwin said. “I can only imagine that same feeling would be permeating through our supporter base.
“I haven’t spoken to Joel. I am going to let that process play out because I have a level of anger, of frustration towards it.”
Melbourne have indicated that Smith may face disciplinary action beyond any anti-doping penalty imposed by the AFL.
Smith, the son of retired Melbourne player Shaun Smith, had his most productive season with the club this year, playing 14 of 42 career games and establishing a regular spot in the senior team. At age 27, he is contracted until the end of next year.
Prior to his positive test, he was due to report for club pre-season training at the start of December.
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