Despite a text message trail that suggests he set out to test players with a new protein used only on horses, Stephen Dank is maintaining his innocence in the scandal that has cost 17 current AFL players their 2016 seasons.
Dank is seen as the architect of the anti-doping violations which finally caught up with 34 current and past Essendon players on Tuesday morning.
A Court of Arbitration for Sport decision ruled those players out for the upcoming season and had plenty of damning words for Dank.
One passage said Dank texted compound pharmacist Nima Alavi in August 2012 asking for “some help with this football team”.
Alavi replied describing a new `amazing’ polymer “being used in the USA for elite horse racing … I can even put the Thymosin and AOD in it”, to which Dank said “let us test a couple of players”.
The decision also states Dank asked former Essendon coach James Hird for help hiding the injection regime from the media.
WADA also submitted that two players recalled seeing Thymosin labels on vials in Dank’s fridge, and six players said Dank identified he was injecting Thymosin.
Dank was quoted by News Corp on Tuesday calling the CAS finding “laughable”.
“I never administered (thymosin beta-4), I didn’t source it and it was never given to them,” he said.
“There is no evidence that I gave it to them, there is no evidence I bought it or ever sourced it.
“They have been found guilty of taking it when there is absolutely no evidence to support the charge.”
The News Corp report says WADA did find abnormally high amounts of the banned substance in urine samples.
The CAS decision also quoted an April 2013 article in The Age in which Dank admitted to using Thymosin beta-4, which he later retracted “once it had been pointed out to him that TB-4 was a prohibited substance”.
CAS added that Dank’s supplements regime was designed for the whole team and Thymosin was touted as the jewel in the crown.
“He may have been a rogue, but there is no evidence that he was a fool,” CAS added.
Dank said he was acting with the full imprimatur of Essendon.
“Everything I have done was done with the full knowledge of the club, the hierarchy and the players.”
Dank, who was given a life ban by the AFL anti-doping tribunal for his role in the affair, also repeated his previous statement that he was preparing to sue media outlets.
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
Or somebody on the WADA hotline.
Penster
Guest
Tassie doesn't have the population to sustain a team, nor does the NT. Essendon sits 7th on the membership table for 2014 & 2015, even with the drug saga in full swing. It would be crazy to abandon those numbers, people won't suddenly join the 12th & 14th placed North Melb and Footscray, it doesn't work like that. But you are quite right about the business failing, with civil suits pending, it's difficult to see how it could possibly survive.
Mikey
Guest
Basil & Dok - I wonder if you guys have read the same report I readi? Because after reading it I struggle to see how anyone could mount a logical argument that the peptide in question could have been anything other than TB-4. CAS were also convinced about where the drug was sourced from and the links that saw it end up at the EFC. And remember the players defence before the AFL tribunal was basically "We don't know for certain what we were injected with but ASADA can't prove it was TB-4" WADA did a much better job of connecting the dots and elliminating the legal Thymosin as a possibility. And the revelation in this report that on 30 occasions players failed to mention that they had been injected with Thymosin to ASADA invesigators was very daminng.
Dok
Roar Rookie
I wonder if they tried to track where he would have got the legal thymosin from ?, they spent 3 years trying to track down where he got the TB4 from, only to not work it out, CAS then jumped that step and just concluded he must have got it from somewhere and injected it, they couldn't even put enough vials on him to inject all 34 players.
Dok
Roar Rookie
In 2012 a look at WADA's website would not have told them TB4 or thymosin was banned, it was not even on the website, but they were told all substances were WADA compliant. It was under another name in S2 of the code which stated that all similar substances were banned, only a chemist would have known what to look for, FWIU Stuart Crameri and his wife did investigate the 4 substances they signed off on, i imagine a few others did as well.
Bobbo7
Guest
Well if EFC kept records it might have helped. But as we know the dog ate the homework so the players have largely been left out to dry. That said, it seems the players were less than honest about the program when interviewed and senior players should have been asking questions why the supposed new vitamin program was vastly different to previous years and they were getting jabbed offsite several time as week. The more you read about the decision the less sympathy I have for the players - maybe the junior guys have an excuse but not the seniors
Basil
Guest
Dank has stated he used the legal form of thymosin, and not the banned TB-4. Having read the full cas report I have still not seen any convincing evidence to the contrary. And how about a little honest reporting, if that is not too much to ask? TB-4 is a naturally occurring substance, and can be detected at elevated levels at certain times, such as when a player is injured. Players from other clubs besides Essendon also reported above normal levels for TB-4.
Hrundi V Bakshi
Guest
Simple solution for Essendon is to do what failing businesses do and just declare bankruptcy and allow the organisation to be wound up with assets dissolved. Really there are too many clubs in Victoria. By winding up Essendon, we can free up their license and give it to a place like Tasmania. The other clubs in the north/west of Melbourne are the Bulldogs and Kangas who have historically been blocked for growth by being stuck up against the great resource hog in Essendon. Cut the Bombers to solve the problems in Tasmania and the western region of Melbourne. A win-win.
Mikey
Guest
Danks refusal to assist the investigation should have been enough reason for the players to accept the ASADA offer of a guilty plea with a few weeks suspension when they had the chance. Dank is really the only person who could provide clarity on exactly what the players were given so how could they continue to plead innocent if he wasn't helping them? His refusal to assist should have raised some serious doubts in at least some of players minds. Without accurate records being provided by Dank or the club then there was always going to be a strong suspicion about what they were given and the players rolled the dice that ASADA/WADA wouldn't find enough evidence to convict - and have lost catestrophically. The really sad thing is that apart from now suffering a lengthy suspension their reputations have been further damaged by CAS's finding that the players didn't do enough to find out what they were being injected with and actually assisted in trying to keep the programm secret - which included failing to mention recieving Thymosin injectons to ASADA investigators. Meanwhile we wait for further news on Danks long promised legal action against the whole world...
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
It's not a presumption of guilt. It's an even field with a result similar to a civil cases "balance of probabilities". They merely do not have the presumption of innocence unless proven beyond reasonable doubt. It's whichever result seems more likely given the facts. I'd think the only way a player could be absolved is if they took all reasonable steps to investigate the validity and legality of what they were given, but were lied to about the substance. Being told by the club it's ok, and taking their word? Not ok. Asking what the substance is, being given the data, calling WADA but finding out that the substance you were actually given is different? Might have a leg to stand on.
strayan
Guest
hi Essendon how's it going? - Good Danks!
Perry Bridge
Guest
Which to me still raises the question - Dank is a bad witness and yet he never testified - if CAS is relying on newspaper reports then that's a bit of a sad day. I still ponder that even if the players kept detailed diaries of what they believed they were being injected with - would that show 'thymosin' or 'TB-4'? At what point does the player get absolved of responsibility in the sourcing chain. The irony is that seemingly the 2 players with elevated levels - that was allowed to be discounted - but CAS had made up their mind on other evidence anyway. There's still a question mark on whether all 34 should be assume to have equal guilt but again CAS-WADA have a presumption of guilt and the individual has to prove innocence but then only 7 individuals presented so it's hard for that to happen anyway. It's a seriously dodgy process for professional employees of a football club to be subject to as distinct to an individual track and field athlete who finds their own coaches etc.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
I find it astounding after the verdicts for the Sharks and Bombers that this bloke is not accountable in any shape or form.
Kaks
Roar Guru
Feels like deja vu. Is he Lance Armstrong in disguise?
Cadfael
Roar Guru
We keep being told by Dank that he has the information that will clear him and the players. We have heard this for two years. Where is it? What is he waiting for, a 60 Minutes payday? Again we are told he will be suing all and sundry and nothing yet. The best that could happen would be for him to come clean. It won't happen.