The Roar
The Roar

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Essendon supplements scandal set to continue regardless of outcome

30th March, 2015
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The landmark AFL anti-doping tribunal findings on the Essendon supplements saga are far from the end of the matter, no matter what happens.

Whoever loses in Tuesday’s verdicts appears certain to appeal.

Separately, legal action is also brewing and this will most likely take months, if not years to resolve.

On Tuesday, tribunal chairman David Jones will hand down the verdicts on 34 current and former Essendon players.

But what happens in the immediate aftermath of that closed hearing at AFL House is up in the air.

It is unclear even how or when the findings will be made public.

Anti-doping rules dictate that the players and ASADA have 21 days to consider an appeal.

The World Anti-Doping Agency can also come over the top with an appeal if it is unhappy with the findings.

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During that time, unless the parties agree, the written reasons for each judgment must not be made public.

The players are charged with taking the banned substance Thymosin beta-4.

The cases stem from Essendon’s controversial 2012 supplements program, which already has had massive consequences for the club and the game.

On February 5 two years ago, Essendon announced they were coming under a joint AFL-ASADA investigation into the supplements regime.

Later that year, the AFL kicked Essendon out of the finals and suspended coach James Hird for 12 months amid a raft of penalties relating to the supplements program.

The saga has also resulted in Essendon and Hird taking unsuccessful Federal Court action against the legality of the joint ASADA-AFL investigation.

Hird appealed on his own in the Federal Court and, again, failed.

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There is so much at stake in Tuesday’s findings that it is hard to see how they will satisfy everyone.

If the players are acquitted, it is a massive blow to ASADA’s credibility.

The players are adamant they have done nothing wrong, so they appear unlikely to accept any guilty findings.

And WADA could intervene with an appeal if it decides the tribunal got any cases or potential penalties wrong.

Once the tribunal process is over, there is a strong possibility of court action.

Last week, former Essendon-listed player Hal Hunter was in the Supreme Court as he considers launching legal action.

The other obvious aspect of the tribunal findings is that they come in the same week as Essendon’s season opener against Sydney.

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The tribunal hearings have already resulted in Essendon fielding a makeshift side during the pre-season.

If any players are found guilty, the tribunal will have to sit again to decide penalties and this is unlikely to happen before round one.

It is understood 17 current Essendon players are awaiting their fates.

Port Adelaide pair Angus Monfries and Paddy Ryder, plus Western Bulldogs forward Stewart Crameri are also among the charged players.

If any players are found guilty, they could be under provisional suspension for this weekend’s games.

The tribunal will also hand down a finding on sports scientist Stephen Dank, who ran the supplements program.

As late as the weekend, Dank was continuing to deride the joint AFL-ASADA investigation and insist that the players were never given any banned substances.

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