Melbourne media cast doubts over ASADA’s handling of Essendon doping scandal

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) has defended its handling of the 2012 drug supplements saga after claims in a Melbourne newspaper that it manipulated evidence relating to AFL club Essendon.

Documents released under Freedom of Information laws have seen a report today in Melbourne newspaper the Herald Sun that the drug at the centre of the scandal was only listed as banned the day before the Bombers 'self-reported' to the AFL.

The Herald Sun reported the drug Thymosin Beta-4, which was administered to Essendon players that led to their AFL suspension in 2016, was only listed as a banned substance several months after the injections were stopped.

34 Essendon players along with the club's senior coach and general manager were suspended after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled the players were injected several times with Thymosin Beta-4.

However, the Herald Sun has reported the drug was only deemed to be logged as prohibitive by ASADA on 4th February 2013 - months after the club had stopped injecting the players.

The newspaper reported “an ASADA official ran a check on the public site for ‘research’ at 10.34am and no flag was generated for Thymosin Beta-4.

“Another check on Thymosin Beta-4 just over two hours later at 12.59pm by an Asada staffer listed it as ‘banned in sport’.

“The status update came on the same day AFL boss Andrew Demetriou called Essendon Chairman David Evans about a secret investigation into the club’s supplements program, prompting the Bombers to ‘self-report’ to ASADA.”

ASADA has responded by stating that the timing of the logging of the drug on its former checking tool known as Check Your Substance was irrelevant.

In a statement it advised “ASADA strongly denies allegations of evidence manipulation reported in the media.

“The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has sole responsibility for setting and determining prohibited substances. It is not possible to manipulate whether or not substances are prohibited.

“Thymosin Beta 4 was included on the 2010 prohibited list by Wada (and) has never been approved for human use. Whether a substance was on Asada’s former Check Your Substances tool has no bearing on its status as a prohibited substance on Wada’s prohibited list.

“It is impossible to list every substance that may be used for performance enhancement in such a tool, particularly those not approved for use by humans.”

The doping saga led to a number of senior Essendon figures leaving the club, with then-coach James Hird being banned by the AFL for 12 months in 2013.

The AFL also fined the club $2 million and banned the Bombers from competing in that year’s finals series.

Sports scientist Stephen Dank, who oversaw the supplements program, was in 2015 found guilty by an AFL Tribunal of trafficking in a number of illicit supplements. The tribunal banned Dank from any association with the AFL for life.

Sections of the media and fans in AFL-loving Melbourne have long disputed that Essendon were drug cheats and have often ridiculed and looked to undermine the ASADA investigation.