At Essendon hamstring awareness is a month. How much coke is in our players system?!?!
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I JUST WANT TO WATCH THE WORLD, and specifically the AwFuL, BURN.
I mean, this could cost the AFL hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.
… but I also wouldn’t be surprised if this is never mentioned again, after one news cycle. BFY, TW.
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Read the last line…
A Melbourne Football Club doctor has sensationally admitted to conducting “off the books” illicit drug tests – allegedly authorised by the AFL – to help players evade detection on match days.
The doctor-turned-whistleblower says players who confessed to having taken drugs in the days before AFL games were given secret tests to ensure their systems were clear or were advised to “fake an injury” so they would not risk being tested and suspended for breaches of the World Anti-Doping Agency code.
Federal MP Andrew Wilkie told parliament on Tuesday night he had received a signed statement from former Demons head doctor Zeeshan Arain in which he accuses the AFL of facilitating the clandestine drug tests at Dorevitch Pathology in Heidelberg.
Mr Wilkie called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to intervene in the scandal.
In a stunning address, Mr Wilkie said: “I rise to bring the house’s attention deeply troubling allegations of egregious misconduct within the AFL provided by former Melbourne football club president Glen Bartlett, former Melbourne football club doctor ZeeshanArain and Shaun Smith, father of Melbourne player and now alleged drug trafficker Joel Smith.
“The allegations include the prevalence of drug abuse and other prohibited behaviour across the AFL, off the books drug-testingof players at Dorevitch Pathology in Heidelberg, facilitated by the former chief medical officer of the AFL Peter Harcourt, the resting of players testing positive in these secret tests, ostensibly on account of injury, wilful inaction by AFL chairman Richard Goyder, and former CEO Gill McLachlan ….
“Here is what happened as has been described to me: The AFL wants the player to play at all costs and so the cover up begins.
“If there are no illegal drugs in the player’s system they are free to play and if there are drugs in their system the player is often asked to fake an injury.
“They are advised to lie about a condition, while the results of the off-the-book tests are kept secret and are never shared with Sports Integrity Australia or WADA.
“In other words, hundreds of thousands of Australians will watch the game not knowing that the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL and thousands of Australians will bet on that game not knowing the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL.
“So next time you hear a player has a hamstring injury, you could be forgiven for wondering what is really going on.
“But as Dr Arain explains this isn’t just a Melbourne problem, it is an AFL problem with multiple players coming to Melbourne from other teams with pre-existing cocaine dependencies more than suggesting that drug testing workarounds are commonplace elsewhere in the AFL.
“The documents in my possession also indicate a shocking unwillingness of senior AFL executives to address drug abuse by players and executives, particularly in relation to cocaine use.
“For instance here are very detailed notes of a telephone meeting between Gill McLachlan, Richard Goyder and Glen Bartlett.”
The AFL has a longstanding contract with Dorevitch Pathology to conduct testing for its controversial out-of-competition illicit drugs code.
Match day drug tests are conducted by SIA officers under the world anti-doping code.
The stunning claims are likely to draw the interest of WADA chiefs, SIA and the Albanese Government, which has responsibilities under the global anti-doping code.
Mr Wilkie said the allegations were deeply troubling and called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to review the signed statements and “personally intervene in this matter”.
“It is not an exaggeration to say the off-the-books testing scheme I’ve described sees the AFL effectively involved in a multi-hundred million dollar fraud on governments and taxpayers.
“Aussie Rules football is far too important to our nation. I call for intervention at the highest level and ask the PrimeMinister to personally intervene in this matter … because right now Deputy Speaker the term white line fever has taken on a different and sinister meaning at the AFL.”
Joel Smith failed an anti-doping drugs test last August after traces of cocaine were detected in his system from a urine sample taken by SIA testers on match-day.
He has since been accused by SIA of cocaine trafficking and faces a lifetime ban from sport.
In Shaun Smith’s statement, detailed by Mr Wilkie, he said: “If I had known of a massive drug problem in the AFL when my son was 14 I would have said you’re playing baseball, you’re playing something else.
“Something is not right when you get so many broken players.”
Cocaine is considered to be a performance-enhancing substance if detected on game day.
Dr Arain was sacked by the Demons in October 2020 after eight years as head doctor – just days after raising serious concerns about the club’s culture with chief executive Gary Pert.
Lawyers for Dr Arain hit the club with an unlawful dismissal claim, which led to a significant settlement. Dr Harcourt, an AFL life member who became embroiled in the Essendon drugs scandal, stepped down as the league’s chief medical officer in October 2021.
The AFL and Melbourne are being contacted for comment.
The government Tuesday night blocked attempts by Mr Wilkie to formally table the signed statements to parliament.
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Shows yet again that the AwFL is the most powerful organization in the country. Everyone else can come under criticism and be replaced. The AwFL just sweeps ■■■■ under the carpet and keeps rolling over its victims and moving on.
Melbourne’s the club who’s captain got KOed by his teammate whilst out on the town, right?
Certainly doesn’t sound like cocaine behaviour to me
Neither does having their best player miss a large chunks of the season due to injuries that don’t seem to stop him training or maintaining fitness.
Isn’t it also one of the clubs who gave us a glowing reference for our infamous sports nutritionist?
Just checked News.com and The Age online. Nothing at all about this
Hopefully this illicit drugs scandal kyboshes Gills plans with racing Victoria
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Get ready to see some sweeping under the rug
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They did big breaking news segment on channel 7 news this morning. I think Melbourne will fall on the sword for this one. The AFL will investigate them and say they were using the tests in a manner that wasn’t intended.
*Sorry, replied to wrong person.
Flag stripped for systemic drug cheating, threads, the vibe, you all know the story.
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Not sure why you like CNET so much, but NewsCorp are the ones that published Warner’s article, and are all over this.
SWMNBN is indeed probably waiting for instructions from her bosses. Pathetic.
Guardian [EDIT: gone?] and others also got it.
Funniest of all is the AFL article on Melbourne FC; oh wait, this was just a fantastic timing coincidence, and published a few hours before everything dropped.
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Repeatedly being compared to the Essendon drug saga on channel 7.
Click your own link, please.
The article is still there on news.com.au, but is the token watered-down clickbait mini-article that is the norm for this non-masthead.
You gotta pay for the good stuff.
sorry i should write news.com.au, thanks for pointing out
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if you’re going to that website and expecting actual news then you’re setting yourself up for failure
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Getting a bit of airtime on Sen. Yeah, I like turning my brain to mush.
Wait, you’re telling me a story about Halle Berry seeing a doctor isn’t real news?
Wilkie is famously an anti afl rugby moron. However, i would like to see Goyder have to step down, the bloke is the most useless chairman in Australian sport.
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