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Two AFL players from the Collingwood Football Club have tested positive for the WADA-banned performance enhancing drug, Clenbuterol.
The players in question are Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas. The samples that have tested positive were collected from the pair on February 10, 2015. Both have been provisionally suspension, with the B samples to be tested.
Unless the B sample is positive, there will be no breach of the Anti-Doping policy.
Collingwood CEO Gary Pert said that he was made aware of the test last Friday morning, and was surprised when the players concerned where identified.
Collingwood also said that the positive tests were not connected with their internal policies. They are currently meeting with the players, and are said to be considering their legal position.
If found guilty of wilfully consuming performance enhancing drugs, the pair could face lengthy suspensions from the AFL along with dismissal from their club.
Clenbuterol is often linked to use by body builders as it assists in burning fat and building muscle.
Pert said the players have both told the club they see “no reason” they would have returned a positive test.
He said the two players had “ASADA knock on their door,” and that the youngsters were “in shock”.
The next steps of the process is that ASADA will begin an investigation, and Pert said the club would support the anti-doping body’s process, and not undergo a process of their own.
Director of Football Neil Balme said Collingwood were aware of the potential sanctions prepared to be without the two players for “some time.”
Balme admitted that the players “would have had to have been actively pursuing it” to have been found with Clenbuterol in their systems.
Pert said “everyone would like to be focussing on the game, rather than these kinds of issues.
“No one likes to be focussing on these kinds of things.”
Keeffe has played 39 games for Collingwood since 2011, enjoying a career high 18 games with the senior side in 2014.
Thomas has notched up 31 games in his two seasons at the club, playing 14 games in 2014.
Collingwood released the following statement on Monday afternoon:
The Collingwood Football Club was advised on Friday by ASADA that two of its players, Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas, are under investigation.
The pair have returned positive A samples to clenbuterol, a substance prohibited under the WADA anti-doping code.
The players’ B samples are still to be analysed, which is currently scheduled for 14 April 2015. It is noted that until the outcome of the B sample is known, the commencement of the provisional suspension is not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing, but a procedural requirement under the AFL Anti-Doping Code.
Both players have sought independent legal advice through the AFL Players Association.
It is important for Collingwood to communicate to its supporters that the club has conducted a forensic audit of its tightly controlled dietary and nutrition program (which is overseen by its Integrity Officer) and is completely satisfied the positive results are in no way connected to the program.
Collingwood is wholly committed to upholding the WADA anti-doping policy and the cause of eradicating performance enhancing drugs from sport.
The club will continue to offer both players all of its support.
Collingwood footballers Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas face positive drug test | smh Clenbuterol is a serious PED. http://t.co/vtStj5rHpo
— Richard Ings (@ringsau) March 30, 2015
The AFL released the following statement in the wake of the news breaking:
On Friday 27 March 2015, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority informed the AFL that samples taken from Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas of the Collingwood Football Club on 10 February 2015 had tested positive to the presence of a WADA-prohibited substance.
The substance, clenbuterol, is not a specified substance on the AFL Anti-Doping prohibited list and as such, requires the players to be provisionally suspended.
The AFL notes that only the A sample has been tested and the players require analysis of their B sample in accordance with the AFL Anti-Doping Code. The testing of the B sample is currently scheduled for 14 April 2015.
It’s important to note that until the outcome of the B sample is known, the commencement of the provisional suspension is not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing, but a procedural requirement under the AFL Anti-Doping Code.
More to come.
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