Former Essendon employee and controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank has been banned from working in the AFL for life.
The decision to end Dank’s career in the sport was handed down today by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, and will take effect from 25 June this year.
Dank is currently not working for any AFL club.
Although he was found not guilty for several charges earlier this year, Dank was found guilty of ten charges relating to trafficking, attempting to traffick and complicity in matters related to prohibited substances.
The AFL’s statement in April relating to what he was found guilty of read as follows.
“The Tribunal has found that the former Essendon support person has been found guilty of 10 breaches of the AFL Anti-Doping Code.
“The breaches include trafficking, attempting to traffick and complicity in matters related to a range of prohibited substances.”
He has denied the charges numerous times throughout the supplements scandal, and said that he gave players no illegal substances.
This is despite admitting he administered the banned peptide Thymosin Beta 4 in an interview with Fairfax Media.
He later retracted the comment, saying he meant he had give players Thymomodulin, which isn’t banned under the WADA code.
Dank chose to be unrepresented at the Tribunal hearing, chaired by former Victorian County Court judge David Jones, which determined the penalties.
Last month, the Tribunal upheld 10 anti-doping infringements against Dank, but he was cleared of 24 other alleged infringements.
He has the right to contest the the lifetime ban before an AFL appeals board.
The finding could delay the World Anti-Doping Agency’s proposed re-hearing of the case against 34 past and present Essendon players at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Dank worked for the Cronulla Sharks in 2011, before working for Essendon in 2012. He has also been banned for life by the NRL.
“AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal has ended its deliberation on sanction of former Essendon FC support person found to have breached Anti-Doping Code.
“The Tribunal has imposed a lifetime sanction, commencing on 25 June 2015.”
Essendon players were previously found not guilty of any offences by the AFL Ant-Doping Tribunal. This decision has been appealed by the World Anti-Doping Authority, with a hearing date still to be determined.
With AAP
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