By Peter Ryan, Jake Niall and Jon Pierik
No other Melbourne players will be penalised or face AFL sanction after forward Joel Smith received a ban of more than four years for testing positive to cocaine on match day and “trafficking or attempted trafficking” to third parties.
Text messages from Smith to other players formed part of Sport Integrity Australia and the AFL’s probe into the 191-centimetre utility.
Joel Smith during the Demons’ semi-final against the Blues in 2023.Credit: AFL Photos
There were fears that other players could face consequences after they were linked to Smith, but two sources familiar with the outcome – who spoke on the condition of anonymity – said the investigation did not have sufficient evidence to pursue them.
In statements released by the AFL and SIA on Friday, there was no mention of other players.
Smith has been serving a provisional suspension from Sport Integrity Australia since October 2023 after he delivered an adverse analytical finding for the presence of cocaine and its metabolite Benzoylecgonine, which is a prohibited substance under the AFL’s anti-doping code.
He returned a positive finding from a test taken after the round 23 match between Melbourne and Hawthorn in 2023. Smith had attempted to mitigate the penalty to three months on the basis that the substance was used out of competition and was not performance-enhancing.
In February, further anti-doping rule violations were asserted against Smith under the anti-doping code, with SIA notifying Smith that three violations for “trafficking or attempted trafficking” of cocaine to third parties were asserted against him.
Smith’s suspension of four years and three months – announced on Friday – was agreed to by the World Anti-Doping Agency, SIA, the AFL and Smith. He cannot play at any level of Australian football until January 9, 2028, but can return to training from November 2027.
AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said the league welcomed the outcome, which had come after a long investigation.
“The outcome in this matter, in which Joel Smith has been suspended for more than four years, reflects the seriousness with which the AFL treats breaches of the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code and is a salutary lesson for any player using illicit substances that are prohibited under the WADA code,” Dillon said.
“The use of performance enhancing substances is strictly prohibited in Australian Football and the AFL will continue to work with Sport Integrity Australia to identify and prosecute the use of such substances in-competition and other conduct prohibited by the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code.
“The AFL does not in any way condone the use of illicit drugs. If a player chooses to use illicit drugs, the potential consequences are substantial, including risks to health and safety and of losing the privilege of playing professional football, as has occurred here.”
Smith, the son of former Melbourne and North Melbourne high-flyer Shaun Smith, played 42 games for Melbourne after making his debut in 2017. He played 14 games in 2023.
Smith has been banned for more than four years.Credit: AFL Photos
Smith played in three matches after round 23, including two finals. Melbourne lost both of those games, but his positive test was not known until after the AFL season finished.
The use of a recreational drug such as cocaine only becomes an issue under the World Anti-Doping Code if a player tests positive on game day.
Smith, who initially faced a two-year ban for the positive test, had hoped for a three-month suspension due to changes in the WADA code that allowed a more lenient penalty if the athlete could demonstrate the positive test to an illicit drug (such as cocaine) was out-of-competition and without any performance-enhancing effect or intention.
The minimum penalty for testing positive to cocaine, or what is categorised as a “substance of abuse”, on match day was reduced to three months in January 2021 if the athlete could prove it wasn’t performance-enhancing.
Previously an athlete could receive a maximum penalty of four years if an illicit substance was in their system on the day of competition, even if it wasn’t performance-enhancing.
The trafficking charges under the anti-doping code were levelled by SIA in February this year, constituting three doping violation allegations for the alleged trafficking, or attempted trafficking, of cocaine.
Under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code, trafficking is defined as “selling, giving, transporting, sending, delivering or distributing a prohibited substance, by an athlete … to any third party”.
According to the code, which adopts the World Anti-Doping Agency’s code, for “Trafficking or attempted trafficking or 2.8 (administration or attempted administration), the period of ineligibility shall be a minimum of four years up to lifetime ineligibility, depending on the seriousness of the violation”.
In a statement, SIA said: “His [Smith’s] sample was analysed at the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory, part of the National Measurement Institute, which detected the presence of cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine.”
Confirmation of Smith’s ban came on the same day the Demons released the findings into separate reviews of their football department, and of their board of directors.
It’s been a tumultuous three years for the club, culminating in Kate Roffey stepping down as president in September, and chief executive Gary Pert announcing on Thursday he will leave by Christmas, but remain as a consultant for what the club hopes will be a new home base at Caulfield Racecourse.
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