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Essendon players past and present will know their fate in just a few days, with the club confirming today that the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) will announce a decision on Tuesday, January 12.
34 players from the 2012 Essendon side have been for three years uncertain of their futures as the club has undergone a very public supplements scandal.
This began in February 2013 when Essendon requested an investigation from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) into its 2012 supplements program and only now does it appear that an end to the saga is near.
In June 2014 after more than a year of investigation from ASADA the Essendon 34 were first issued show cause notices, indicating ASADA’s intention to charge them with the use of banned substances.
Then in March 2015, the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal announced after a three-day hearing that the players had been found not guilty of using banned substances.
However, just three weeks later the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) announced that they would appeal the tribunal’s decision before the CAS.
Depending on the CAS decision, Essendon players could face bans for as long as two years if they are found guilty of taking banned substances.
However, a guilty verdict would almost certainly require the introduction of significant new evidence, and there has been little indication as to what this might be.
In August 2015 WADA publicly revealed that they had found two frozen urine samples from Essendon players containing high levels of thymosin beta 4, the substance Essendon players have been accused of taking.
Thymosin beta 4 is a peptide which promotes healing and the creation of new blood and muscle cells, and is also a potent anti-inflammatory.
Whether or not the urine samples will prove to be the smoking gun needed to reverse the original decision is yet to be seen.
Essendon announced the decision date on their wesbite earlier today in a short statement:
“Essendon Football Club can confirm the 34 players, past and present, have been advised that a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport will be handed down on the morning of Tuesday January 12.”
New Essendon coach John Worsfold said on Friday that those of the 34 players who were still on the list at Essendon were anxious to have the matter resolved.
“I think it’s a combination of everything. What we’ve talked a lot about is they have no control over it at all, so let’s focus on what we can control and be positive about that,” he said.
“But that doesn’t take away any anxiety that they may feel.”