Controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank has vowed to take legal action against the AFL after he received a lifetime ban from the sport for his role in the Essendon supplements scandal.
On Friday, Dank was banned for life by the AFL anti-doping tribunal for breaching the league’s anti-doping code, with the sanction effective from June 25 this year.
“We will now accelerate our legal action against the AFL and individual members of its executive who are responsible for this decision being handed down,” Dank told News Corp Australia.
“They have contaminated the truth and impaired natural justice and now they will feel the full thrust of the law in relation to how they’ve handled this process.”
Dank told Fox Sports that he had left a message with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan to warn him that he would be “going after him” in relation to the matter and “would leave no stone unturned in pursuing justice”.
The AFL and ASADA both welcomed the decision to ban Dank for life.
ASADA chief executive Ben McDevitt has said previously that Dank should never be allowed near any sporting venue or any athlete anywhere in the world.
“This ruling by the AFL anti-doping tribunal has confirmed my view,” McDevitt said via a statement.
“Other serious alleged violations involving Mr Dank and current and former Essendon players are currently being pursued before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) via appeals initiated by the World Anti-Doping Agency.”
Dank has the right to contest the sanction before an AFL appeals board, which could delay WADA’s proposed re-hearing of the case against 34 past and present Essendon players at the CAS.
Dank chose not to be represented at the tribunal hearing, chaired by former Victorian County Court judge David Jones.
Last month, the tribunal upheld 10 anti-doping infringements against Dank that were found to have occurred during his time at AFL clubs Essendon and the Gold Coast, but he was cleared of 24 other alleged infringements.
Earlier this year, the players were cleared of taking banned peptide Thymosin Beta-4 by an AFL tribunal.
Dank’s ban effectively means he won’t be able to work again in any sport in the world that is a signatory to the WADA code.
Mikey
Guest
“We will now accelerate our legal action against the AFL and individual members of its executive who are responsible for this decision being handed down,” Dank told News Corp Australia. Thank goodness he is now going to acceleate his legal action - because he couldn't go any slower than he has to date. He has been talking legal action pretty much since this saga started and yet nearly 3 years down the track he has done nothing. In the meantime his reputation has been completely trashed and his career has been flushed down the toilet. Personally I would have felt the need to act a long time before now but clearly Dank's legal team thinks otherwise. At least they have had plenty of time to prepare their case so we should be expecting the action to start any day now....
Timmuh
Roar Guru
You are. He is not banned for doping any AFL player, but for attempting to traffic prohibited substances (among other things). "Attempting to traffic" leaves the AFL with a nice little out to say that the trafficking may not have been successful. Its rot, but rot the spin machine can work with. The players at EFC were only ever charged with TB4 use (so far, there is every chance that CJC and other substances could result in another three years of this saga). The Tribunal determined insufficient evidence, at either player of Dank trials, that the substance was indeed TB-4. Of course, the Tribunal, while independent, appear to have been hand picked with the AFL choosing people they thought were most likely to deliver the desired result. The process was much a like an independent report to government. If you want a result from somebody outside, give the job to someone who already agrees and then let them act independently.
joe
Guest
I seem to recall he supplied essendon staff with stuff I think that was part of the reason. I think he was also found guilty of supplying stuff to someone at gold coast and a Carlton staff member Did have a laugh when he said he's going to sue afl and asada,how many times has he said that
Jasper
Guest
As the AFL found that nothing happened how did they end up banning someone for life?
Mike from Tari
Guest
Bit of a conundrum this, they could not prove that the players imbibed or injected illegal substances yet this guy is banned for doping players, am I missing something here??????