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Jobe Watson and doping: a complicated issue

Roar Guru
29th June, 2013
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Roar Guru
29th June, 2013
25
1465 Reads

After another tough week for the Essendon Football Club and its captain Jobe Watson, a trip west and an opportunity to get out of the limelight of Melbourne could have been seen as a welcome one.

But nobody told the fans at Paterson’s Stadium.

A lot has been said about the reigning Brownlow medalist’s admission that he had been supplied the supplement AOD-9604 on Monday night’s edition of Fox Footy’s On the Couch. Pundits have called for the AFL to suspend him, for him to relinquish the captaincy, and to hand back his Brownlow Medal.

Fans at the game on Thursday night obviously agreed with one or all of these conclusions. The booing was constant, loud and lasted the entire game. Would it have been different if the Eagles had won, or were in a better position on the ladder? We will never know.

Watson seemed to handle it well on the field, gathering 29 possessions and kicking 2 goals to be an important part of his side’s come- from-behind win. He was clearly distraught once the game finished, however. He probably wishes now he never said anything. Essendon certainly do.

Nothing about this issue is clear cut. No one knows the complete set of facts due the ongoing nature of ASADA’s investigation.

And some of the known facts are confusing. According to The Herald Sun, the ACC stated in their report on drugs and crime in sport February that AOD-9604 “is currently not a WADA prohibited substance”.

WADA, however, states that because AOD-9604 is under pre-clinical and clinical development, “it has not yet been approved for therapeutic use by any government health authority in the world.”

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Watson and his fellow players were apparently assured by his club that the substance was not banned. We now know that it is not on the specific list of substances banned by the WADA code, but is on the prohibited list of substances not yet approved for human use, and was at the time it was administered. So who is responsible?

It is no defence for a player to plead ignorance for any substance that is given to them. If a player is unsure, they should check by contacting the ASADA.

This issue, then, seems to be one of trust. The players didn’t check because they trusted the program, the doctors and their club. This trust seems to have been misplaced.

Whether this is enough to absolve the players of any wrongdoing will be clear only when ASADA has concluded its investigation. Watson, and Essendon, certainly believe it is. Until that time, one should reserve our judgement of the Bombers captain and his fellow players.

Watson should not be absolved of any wrongdoing, but he shouldn’t be condemned either. Not yet. Despite his admission, there is no suggestion from anybody that Jobe Watson has ever failed any of the AFL’s numerous drug tests.

Drugs in sport are, as we know, a sensitive issue.

Any mention of doping generally has people up in arms in one way or another, and offering all sorts of opinions and solutions. People feel betrayed when their heroes are caught cheating, and rightly so.

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And it’s always ten times worse when the person implicated is successful in their chosen field.

Just ask Lance Armstrong.

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