Quoted PostI would encourage you to write more articles Chip. A lovely insight into how ASADA works.Nice rebuttal for Devitt McBen.
Worryingly, the very serious implications of Chip’s article about how ASADA conducted itself will be lost on a great many.
This smacks of lies and corruption and yet it’s others that are labeled as cheats.
Basically fabricating evidence, which we had seen from the AFL side of things, but more proof that it was ASADA’s MO as well. Pretty serious stuff.
“I told you so”
Bravo Graham Cornes, bravo!
Quoted PostQuoted PostI would encourage you to write more articles Chip. A lovely insight into how ASADA works.Nice rebuttal for Devitt McBen.
Worryingly, the very serious implications of Chip’s article about how ASADA conducted itself will be lost on a great many.
This smacks of lies and corruption and yet it’s others that are labeled as cheats.I had this very thought and until this sort of information makes it’s way onto the prime time news or current affairs shows, instead of dodgy builder exposés, the majority of the great unwashed will continue with their prejudice.
Agree with both of you, which is why a Senate or Judicial Inquiry is needed.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/a/26915494/greens-call-for-asada-inquiry/
The Greens are pushing for a parliamentary inquiry into the nation’s anti-doping agency in the wake of its failed case against 34 past and present Essendon players.
“No one could argue the system is working properly,” Greens senator Richard Di Natale told ABC Radio on Thursday.
The senator said he didn’t want to claim ASADA had botched the Essendon investigation, preferring to question whether the anti-doping code was appropriate for team sports such as AFL and NRL.
What about Sandor Earl, been left swinging in the breeze for near on 2 years, what about the 5 players who didn’t take the deal with the other Cronulla players, what about other athletes who we know nothing about but fairly sure there would others waiting on their outcome.
It’s time ASADA/McDevitt are brought to account for their playing of the man instead of the ball.
Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostBD take it easy, people here mean no harm.sorry I’m a bad mood I’m staying at a motel in eildon at the moment for Easter and the guy who runs the place came by to help me kill a spider
but whilst doing it he decided to tell me that James Hird was a drug cheat which ■■■■■■ me off
(he recognised my sister from today’s paper)i remember mid saga where someone said they visited a hot chicken shop out in Narre Warren or some other rubbish place. they either had carlton posters up or anti Hird posters. anyway, it got mentioned in here, and within minutes their urbanspoon rating had dropped to 30% from a few vigilante blitzers saying how ■■■■ the place was. karma
Blitzspoon
You can add Prossers at the Queen Vic to that. A real smartarse “cheats” under the breath comment at my Essendon wind cheater
The last two remaining pieces of this saga, for mine at least, are actions against certain media people and for McDevitt to be removed as CEO of ASADA and for that organisation to undergo SIGNIFICANT reform with regards to its processes.
The complete media ■■■■■■■■■■■ that has occurred, without cause, for two years is an embarrassment to all those brave enough to put their name to pure inventions, myth and outright lies. All jokes aside, Caroline Wilson really should stand down and hand back her ‘award’ in light of the truth emerging.
The second part, and this will require key people to stay angry enough to pursue it, is to bring about change in ASADA. The articles now being released that indicate just how flimsy the evidence was should be the catalyst to ask serious questions of why the CEO McIdiot pursued this case. Essentially the tribunal stopped short, but not by a long way, to saying they were fabricated documents. This fits with the theory that was around of a bigger case for fraud against the club and medicare. As head of an anti-doping organisation, I expect Ben McDevitt to know the difference between a lie and evidence of doping.
As the TWO media roadshows McDevitt engaged in, both were illegal and highly prejudicial. I would hope that someone, somewhere, has the guts to take him to task for it. Yes he was required to ‘cover’ the agency butt so to speak, but that doesn’t give him the right to imply the guilt of those just found innocent.
Chips latest Article re AOD is in line with the early rumour about dank ripping off the club and selling the drugs elsewhere. Still nobody has really investigated that criminal angle hard , maybe Chip is getting there.
CJ Johns, thank you, great job.
http://m.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/asada-dope-case-hinged-on-phantom-shipment/story-fnca0u4y-1227290645176 ASADA dope case hinged on ‘phantom’ shipmentChip Le Grand The Australian April 04, 2015 12:00AMPharmacist Nima Alavi
Pharmacist Nima Alavi supplied Essendon biochemist Stephen Dank.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority relied on vague and possibly fabricated evidence about a “phantom” delivery of peptides in its attempt to prove that a banned drug was used by Essendon footballers.
The claim came from a witness who had not mentioned the shipment in four previous interviews.
The AFL tribunal, which this week cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping allegations, expressed “grave doubts” about the authenticity of documents relied on by ASADA to show a second batch of peptides containing the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was shipped to the Melbourne pharmacist at the centre of the doping scandal.
Throughout the entire first year of its investigation, ASADA’s case was that Essendon players were injected with Thymosin Beta 4 contained in a shipment of Chinese peptides received by pharmacist Nima Alavi on December 28, 2011.
ASADA’s case was heavily reliant on information provided by drug importer Shane Charter and Mr Alavi, who under compulsion from ASADA provided documents and submitted to four interviews with investigators, in November and December 2013.
On April 14 last year, after ASADA’s investigations team had submitted its final report concluding that insufficient evidence had been gathered to prove the case against the Essendon players, investigator Aaron Walker was instructed by ASADA’s senior management to interview Mr Alavi a fifth time.
On this occasion, Mr Alavi told Mr Walker about a second shipment of peptides that had arrived from China about six weeks after the first. The only record of the shipment was a handwritten noted entered by Mr Alavi’s lab assistant in the pharmacy diary: “Thymosin 1g.”
When pressed for details, Mr Alavi produced certificates of analysis and other documents he claimed to have discovered in a storage facility.
The certificates of analysis secured by ASADA did not reveal the source of the peptides, when they were manufactured or who tested them. They also contained inaccurate molecular weights for the substances they purported to identify. The veracity of the documents was questioned by ASADA’s own expert witness, University of Sydney endocrinologist David Handelsman.
The tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, concluded the documents could not be trusted. “The tribunal has grave doubts about the authenticity of the certificates and, in particular, the Thymosin certificate,” the tribunal found.
According to the tribunal’s reasoned judgment handed down this week: “The ASADA CEO placed considerable reliance on the February certificates.”
Mr Alavi’s belated recollections about a second batch of Thymosin were slammed by the players’ lawyers. “It is submitted that, if anything, the evidence relating to this delivery is more vague, more imprecise and more generally lacking in documentary corroboration than the first delivery. There is no evidence about its origin, no invoices, email exchanges, international money transfers or claims for reimbursement. It is put that it is a ‘phantom’ delivery which seemingly appears out of thin air.”
The tribunal was not satisfied that the second shipment occurred; let alone that it contained Thymosin Beta 4. The tribunal was neither satisfied that the first shipment to Mr Alavi’s pharmacy contained Thymosin Beta 4 nor that the peptides were taken to Windy Hill by Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Gives you something to think about regarding the fraud angle, doesn’t it?
Quoted Posthttp://m.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/asada-dope-case-hinged-on-phantom-shipment/story-fnca0u4y-1227290645176 ASADA dope case hinged on ‘phantom’ shipmentChip Le Grand The Australian April 04, 2015 12:00AMPharmacist Nima Alavi
Pharmacist Nima Alavi supplied Essendon biochemist Stephen Dank.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority relied on vague and possibly fabricated evidence about a “phantom” delivery of peptides in its attempt to prove that a banned drug was used by Essendon footballers.
The claim came from a witness who had not mentioned the shipment in four previous interviews.
The AFL tribunal, which this week cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping allegations, expressed “grave doubts” about the authenticity of documents relied on by ASADA to show a second batch of peptides containing the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was shipped to the Melbourne pharmacist at the centre of the doping scandal.
Throughout the entire first year of its investigation, ASADA’s case was that Essendon players were injected with Thymosin Beta 4 contained in a shipment of Chinese peptides received by pharmacist Nima Alavi on December 28, 2011.
ASADA’s case was heavily reliant on information provided by drug importer Shane Charter and Mr Alavi, who under compulsion from ASADA provided documents and submitted to four interviews with investigators, in November and December 2013.
On April 14 last year, after ASADA’s investigations team had submitted its final report concluding that insufficient evidence had been gathered to prove the case against the Essendon players, investigator Aaron Walker was instructed by ASADA’s senior management to interview Mr Alavi a fifth time.
On this occasion, Mr Alavi told Mr Walker about a second shipment of peptides that had arrived from China about six weeks after the first. The only record of the shipment was a handwritten noted entered by Mr Alavi’s lab assistant in the pharmacy diary: “Thymosin 1g.”
When pressed for details, Mr Alavi produced certificates of analysis and other documents he claimed to have discovered in a storage facility.
The certificates of analysis secured by ASADA did not reveal the source of the peptides, when they were manufactured or who tested them. They also contained inaccurate molecular weights for the substances they purported to identify. The veracity of the documents was questioned by ASADA’s own expert witness, University of Sydney endocrinologist David Handelsman.
The tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, concluded the documents could not be trusted. “The tribunal has grave doubts about the authenticity of the certificates and, in particular, the Thymosin certificate,” the tribunal found.
According to the tribunal’s reasoned judgment handed down this week: “The ASADA CEO placed considerable reliance on the February certificates.”
Mr Alavi’s belated recollections about a second batch of Thymosin were slammed by the players’ lawyers. “It is submitted that, if anything, the evidence relating to this delivery is more vague, more imprecise and more generally lacking in documentary corroboration than the first delivery. There is no evidence about its origin, no invoices, email exchanges, international money transfers or claims for reimbursement. It is put that it is a ‘phantom’ delivery which seemingly appears out of thin air.”
The tribunal was not satisfied that the second shipment occurred; let alone that it contained Thymosin Beta 4. The tribunal was neither satisfied that the first shipment to Mr Alavi’s pharmacy contained Thymosin Beta 4 nor that the peptides were taken to Windy Hill by Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Gives you something to think about regarding the fraud angle, doesn’t it?
Its taken 26 months but I have a feeling we are about to get to the real story. Fraud.
Well heading off for Easter Vacation, starting with a trip to the Pub to watch the Bombers win! Happy Easter to all and may this be the beginning of our clubs next chapter.
Stay safe Blitzers and see you next week!
ASADA found ‘no evidence’ AOD-9604 given to Essendon playersCHIP LE GRAND
THE AUSTRALIAN
APRIL 04, 2015 12:00AMA two-year investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority did not uncover any evidence to support Essendon captain Jobe Watson’s belief that sports scientist Stephen Dank injected him with the contentious peptide AOD-9604.
ASADA now believes that neither Watson nor any other Essendon player was injected with the substance that dominated the first six months of the doping scandal.
Buried within the AFL tribunal’s 132-page decision is a finding of fact about whether AOD-9604, a failed anti-obesity drug banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency after Essendon’s disastrous 2012 supplements program, was ever used at the club.
‘‘Notwithstanding what Mr Dank had told people at Essendon, significantly, the ASADA investigation found no evidence of Mr Dank obtaining AOD-9604 for injection before August 2012,’’ the judgment found.
Dank finished working at Essendon in early September 2012. Evidence provided to ASADA investigators suggests that by August 2012, many players including Watson had lost faith in Dank’s program and stopped receiving injections.
The AFL tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, noted there was evidence that Dank was supplied with a cream containing AOD-9604 earlier in the season. There were 13 Essendon players who recalled being treated with an AOD-9604 cream.
The anti-doping investigators concluded in their final report submitted to former ASADA chief executive Aurora Andruska early last year that in the absence of a reliable source for AOD-9604, it was highly unlikely that Dank injected the peptide into Essendon players.
If the investigators are right it means the sports scientist lied to players, including Watson, about what he was giving them. Dank strongly denied this.
It also exposes the shameful silence from the AFL and ASADA which followed Watson’s admission during a television interview on June 24, 2013 that he believed he had been given AOD-9604.
For the rest of the season, as ASADA and AFL chiefs haggled over the status of the peptide during a series of high-level meetings and telephone hook-ups, Watson was heckled by opposition supporters and faced calls to be stripped of his 2012 season Brownlow Medal.
It was not until August 2013, when ASADA provided its interim investigators report to the AFL Commission, that it became clear the anti-doping authority would take no action against players over the use of the peptide.
Watson is one of six players who told ASADA they were injected with AOD-9604. For any players who believe they were injected with the substance the tribunal’s finding is a doubled-edged sword; although it suggests they were not given a peptide that has since been added to WADA’s banned list, it raises further questions about what they were actually given.
AOD-9604 was the only peptide approved for limited use at Essendon by club doctor Bruce Reid during 2012. Reid’s suspicions that Dank was injecting players with the drug before he approved its use prompted his January 17 letter to senior coach James Hird and football manager Paul Hamilton that expressed concerns about Dank’s work.
AOD-9604, although not approved for therapeutic use, has been declared profoundly safe after more than 10 years of research and development, including clinical trials.
The US Food and Drug Administration last year declared it Generally Recognised as Safe to be included in foods and dietary supplements. It has demonstrated no anabolic, growth or other performance-enhancing properties.
ASADA’s most senior investigator, Paul Simonsson, a former NSW police detective who oversaw the probes into Essendon and NRL club Cronulla, assured Essendon players in the early weeks of the scandal that they would not face doping charges for their use of AOD-9604. Simonsson, in an address to Essendon players, coaches, staff and lawyers in February 2013, said he would need to have ‘‘rocks in my head’’ to pursue such a case.
The assumption that Essendon players were given AOD-9604 is based entirely on the word of Dank, a sports scientist accused by ASADA of concealing his work at Essendon from the club’s senior management and medical staff.
AOD-9604 was not manufactured by the Chinese company used by drug importer Shane Charter to source other peptides supplied to Dank. ASADA’s investigators were unable to find evidence of any compounding pharmacy in Australia providing Dank with the peptide.
Dank has refused to co-operate with ASADA and was not represented throughout the AFL tribunal’s hearing.
His credibility was attacked by lawyers for ASADA and the 34 current and former Essendon players this week cleared of doping.
‘‘Mr Dank’s credibility is at a low ebb,’’ the tribunal found.
The tribunal is yet to hand down its judgment on ASADA’s case against Dank, which includes 34 alleged infringements of anti-doping laws.
The infringements relate to his work at Essendon and the Gold Coast Suns and also include charges of trafficking banned substances to a Carlton coach and baseball players.
He is accused of possessing banned peptides, trafficking them and covering up their use.
Dank has vowed to challenge any adverse finding in the Federal Court.
Lol what a farking joke
The other story is who leaked information to the press from the interviews and other confidential information.
The latest the report from the Tribunal even before the Players had read it.
SWMNBN comment that “both sides were doing it” leaking information that is was towards the end of the Saga
SWMNDN has had a golden shower of Leaks over the years
I know not a pretty thought…LOL
Quoted Posthttp://m.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/asada-dope-case-hinged-on-phantom-shipment/story-fnca0u4y-1227290645176 ASADA dope case hinged on ‘phantom’ shipmentChip Le Grand The Australian April 04, 2015 12:00AMPharmacist Nima Alavi
Pharmacist Nima Alavi supplied Essendon biochemist Stephen Dank.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority relied on vague and possibly fabricated evidence about a “phantom” delivery of peptides in its attempt to prove that a banned drug was used by Essendon footballers.
The claim came from a witness who had not mentioned the shipment in four previous interviews.
The AFL tribunal, which this week cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping allegations, expressed “grave doubts” about the authenticity of documents relied on by ASADA to show a second batch of peptides containing the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was shipped to the Melbourne pharmacist at the centre of the doping scandal.
Throughout the entire first year of its investigation, ASADA’s case was that Essendon players were injected with Thymosin Beta 4 contained in a shipment of Chinese peptides received by pharmacist Nima Alavi on December 28, 2011.
ASADA’s case was heavily reliant on information provided by drug importer Shane Charter and Mr Alavi, who under compulsion from ASADA provided documents and submitted to four interviews with investigators, in November and December 2013.
On April 14 last year, after ASADA’s investigations team had submitted its final report concluding that insufficient evidence had been gathered to prove the case against the Essendon players, investigator Aaron Walker was instructed by ASADA’s senior management to interview Mr Alavi a fifth time.
On this occasion, Mr Alavi told Mr Walker about a second shipment of peptides that had arrived from China about six weeks after the first. The only record of the shipment was a handwritten noted entered by Mr Alavi’s lab assistant in the pharmacy diary: “Thymosin 1g.”
When pressed for details, Mr Alavi produced certificates of analysis and other documents he claimed to have discovered in a storage facility.
The certificates of analysis secured by ASADA did not reveal the source of the peptides, when they were manufactured or who tested them. They also contained inaccurate molecular weights for the substances they purported to identify. The veracity of the documents was questioned by ASADA’s own expert witness, University of Sydney endocrinologist David Handelsman.
The tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, concluded the documents could not be trusted. “The tribunal has grave doubts about the authenticity of the certificates and, in particular, the Thymosin certificate,” the tribunal found.
According to the tribunal’s reasoned judgment handed down this week: “The ASADA CEO placed considerable reliance on the February certificates.”
Mr Alavi’s belated recollections about a second batch of Thymosin were slammed by the players’ lawyers. “It is submitted that, if anything, the evidence relating to this delivery is more vague, more imprecise and more generally lacking in documentary corroboration than the first delivery. There is no evidence about its origin, no invoices, email exchanges, international money transfers or claims for reimbursement. It is put that it is a ‘phantom’ delivery which seemingly appears out of thin air.”
The tribunal was not satisfied that the second shipment occurred; let alone that it contained Thymosin Beta 4. The tribunal was neither satisfied that the first shipment to Mr Alavi’s pharmacy contained Thymosin Beta 4 nor that the peptides were taken to Windy Hill by Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Gives you something to think about regarding the fraud angle, doesn’t it?
When I read that I don’t think fraud - I think corruption. After 4 interviews Alavi suddenly decides to tell ASADA about another shipment. That reads to me like Alavi was being coerced or enticed to sell us out.
Quoted PostCould be one and the same. 'pay me for these documents or I'll hand them over'Quoted Posthttp://m.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/asada-dope-case-hinged-on-phantom-shipment/story-fnca0u4y-1227290645176 ASADA dope case hinged on ‘phantom’ shipmentChip Le Grand The Australian April 04, 2015 12:00AMPharmacist Nima Alavi
Pharmacist Nima Alavi supplied Essendon biochemist Stephen Dank.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority relied on vague and possibly fabricated evidence about a “phantom” delivery of peptides in its attempt to prove that a banned drug was used by Essendon footballers.
The claim came from a witness who had not mentioned the shipment in four previous interviews.
The AFL tribunal, which this week cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping allegations, expressed “grave doubts” about the authenticity of documents relied on by ASADA to show a second batch of peptides containing the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was shipped to the Melbourne pharmacist at the centre of the doping scandal.
Throughout the entire first year of its investigation, ASADA’s case was that Essendon players were injected with Thymosin Beta 4 contained in a shipment of Chinese peptides received by pharmacist Nima Alavi on December 28, 2011.
ASADA’s case was heavily reliant on information provided by drug importer Shane Charter and Mr Alavi, who under compulsion from ASADA provided documents and submitted to four interviews with investigators, in November and December 2013.
On April 14 last year, after ASADA’s investigations team had submitted its final report concluding that insufficient evidence had been gathered to prove the case against the Essendon players, investigator Aaron Walker was instructed by ASADA’s senior management to interview Mr Alavi a fifth time.
On this occasion, Mr Alavi told Mr Walker about a second shipment of peptides that had arrived from China about six weeks after the first. The only record of the shipment was a handwritten noted entered by Mr Alavi’s lab assistant in the pharmacy diary: “Thymosin 1g.”
When pressed for details, Mr Alavi produced certificates of analysis and other documents he claimed to have discovered in a storage facility.
The certificates of analysis secured by ASADA did not reveal the source of the peptides, when they were manufactured or who tested them. They also contained inaccurate molecular weights for the substances they purported to identify. The veracity of the documents was questioned by ASADA’s own expert witness, University of Sydney endocrinologist David Handelsman.
The tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, concluded the documents could not be trusted. “The tribunal has grave doubts about the authenticity of the certificates and, in particular, the Thymosin certificate,” the tribunal found.
According to the tribunal’s reasoned judgment handed down this week: “The ASADA CEO placed considerable reliance on the February certificates.”
Mr Alavi’s belated recollections about a second batch of Thymosin were slammed by the players’ lawyers. “It is submitted that, if anything, the evidence relating to this delivery is more vague, more imprecise and more generally lacking in documentary corroboration than the first delivery. There is no evidence about its origin, no invoices, email exchanges, international money transfers or claims for reimbursement. It is put that it is a ‘phantom’ delivery which seemingly appears out of thin air.”
The tribunal was not satisfied that the second shipment occurred; let alone that it contained Thymosin Beta 4. The tribunal was neither satisfied that the first shipment to Mr Alavi’s pharmacy contained Thymosin Beta 4 nor that the peptides were taken to Windy Hill by Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Gives you something to think about regarding the fraud angle, doesn’t it?
When I read that I don’t think fraud - I think corruption. After 4 interviews Alavi suddenly decides to tell ASADA about another shipment. That reads to me like Alavi was being coerced or enticed to sell us out.
‘Nima they’re written in crayon on the back of a page ripped out of a Bananas In Pajamas colouring in book. And you did the colouring in first. Get ■■■■■■!’
‘You’ll see! ASADA will believe me! You’re in trouble now!’
ASADA’s most senior investigator, Paul Simonsson, a former NSW police detective who oversaw the probes into Essendon and NRL club Cronulla, assured Essendon players in the early weeks of the scandal that they would not face doping charges for their use of AOD-9604. Simonsson, in an address to Essendon players, coaches, staff and lawyers in February 2013, said he would need to have ‘‘rocks in my head’’ to pursue such a case.
Indeed.
Quoted PostQuoted PostCould be one and the same. 'pay me for these documents or I'll hand them over'Quoted Posthttp://m.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/asada-dope-case-hinged-on-phantom-shipment/story-fnca0u4y-1227290645176 ASADA dope case hinged on ‘phantom’ shipmentChip Le Grand The Australian April 04, 2015 12:00AMPharmacist Nima Alavi
Pharmacist Nima Alavi supplied Essendon biochemist Stephen Dank.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority relied on vague and possibly fabricated evidence about a “phantom” delivery of peptides in its attempt to prove that a banned drug was used by Essendon footballers.
The claim came from a witness who had not mentioned the shipment in four previous interviews.
The AFL tribunal, which this week cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping allegations, expressed “grave doubts” about the authenticity of documents relied on by ASADA to show a second batch of peptides containing the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was shipped to the Melbourne pharmacist at the centre of the doping scandal.
Throughout the entire first year of its investigation, ASADA’s case was that Essendon players were injected with Thymosin Beta 4 contained in a shipment of Chinese peptides received by pharmacist Nima Alavi on December 28, 2011.
ASADA’s case was heavily reliant on information provided by drug importer Shane Charter and Mr Alavi, who under compulsion from ASADA provided documents and submitted to four interviews with investigators, in November and December 2013.
On April 14 last year, after ASADA’s investigations team had submitted its final report concluding that insufficient evidence had been gathered to prove the case against the Essendon players, investigator Aaron Walker was instructed by ASADA’s senior management to interview Mr Alavi a fifth time.
On this occasion, Mr Alavi told Mr Walker about a second shipment of peptides that had arrived from China about six weeks after the first. The only record of the shipment was a handwritten noted entered by Mr Alavi’s lab assistant in the pharmacy diary: “Thymosin 1g.”
When pressed for details, Mr Alavi produced certificates of analysis and other documents he claimed to have discovered in a storage facility.
The certificates of analysis secured by ASADA did not reveal the source of the peptides, when they were manufactured or who tested them. They also contained inaccurate molecular weights for the substances they purported to identify. The veracity of the documents was questioned by ASADA’s own expert witness, University of Sydney endocrinologist David Handelsman.
The tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, concluded the documents could not be trusted. “The tribunal has grave doubts about the authenticity of the certificates and, in particular, the Thymosin certificate,” the tribunal found.
According to the tribunal’s reasoned judgment handed down this week: “The ASADA CEO placed considerable reliance on the February certificates.”
Mr Alavi’s belated recollections about a second batch of Thymosin were slammed by the players’ lawyers. “It is submitted that, if anything, the evidence relating to this delivery is more vague, more imprecise and more generally lacking in documentary corroboration than the first delivery. There is no evidence about its origin, no invoices, email exchanges, international money transfers or claims for reimbursement. It is put that it is a ‘phantom’ delivery which seemingly appears out of thin air.”
The tribunal was not satisfied that the second shipment occurred; let alone that it contained Thymosin Beta 4. The tribunal was neither satisfied that the first shipment to Mr Alavi’s pharmacy contained Thymosin Beta 4 nor that the peptides were taken to Windy Hill by Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Gives you something to think about regarding the fraud angle, doesn’t it?
When I read that I don’t think fraud - I think corruption. After 4 interviews Alavi suddenly decides to tell ASADA about another shipment. That reads to me like Alavi was being coerced or enticed to sell us out.
‘Nima they’re written in crayon on the back of a page ripped out of a Bananas In Pajamas colouring in book. And you did the colouring in first. Get ■■■■■■!’
‘You’ll see! ASADA will believe me! You’re in trouble now!’
Ah extortion from Alavi - I hadn’t looked at that angle assuming ASADA & AFL were more likely to resort to “black ops” methods. Could this be part of all the rumours floating around about Charters having info that could clear the players? It almost appeared he was publically stating I’m open to be bought.
I love ASADA investigation standards-
Jobe- I took AOD
asada- no you didn’t there’s no evidence you did and besides, it’s AOK we cant ping you for it.
Club- we didn’t use TB4
asada- yes you did, there’s no evidence ( apart from some fabricated stuff) but we’re sure you did and we need to ping you for it.
Great work by both Guzz and CJohns.
Those two videos are priceless, well done.
Another term I would add to the fabric campaign is substance. Time and time again the players and Hirdy have shown this particular quality throughout dealing with all the ■■■■ slung at them. They are the ones that have stood most firm through all the adversity and have shown that this club is made of stern substance and have therefore have created this strong fabric within the club going forward.
Oh and don’t the supporters of all the other 17 clubs just farkin hate that? They’re afraid, so very afraid.
Quoted PostQuoted PostQuoted PostCould be one and the same. 'pay me for these documents or I'll hand them over'Quoted Posthttp://m.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/asada-dope-case-hinged-on-phantom-shipment/story-fnca0u4y-1227290645176 ASADA dope case hinged on ‘phantom’ shipmentChip Le Grand The Australian April 04, 2015 12:00AMPharmacist Nima Alavi
Pharmacist Nima Alavi supplied Essendon biochemist Stephen Dank.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority relied on vague and possibly fabricated evidence about a “phantom” delivery of peptides in its attempt to prove that a banned drug was used by Essendon footballers.
The claim came from a witness who had not mentioned the shipment in four previous interviews.
The AFL tribunal, which this week cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping allegations, expressed “grave doubts” about the authenticity of documents relied on by ASADA to show a second batch of peptides containing the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was shipped to the Melbourne pharmacist at the centre of the doping scandal.
Throughout the entire first year of its investigation, ASADA’s case was that Essendon players were injected with Thymosin Beta 4 contained in a shipment of Chinese peptides received by pharmacist Nima Alavi on December 28, 2011.
ASADA’s case was heavily reliant on information provided by drug importer Shane Charter and Mr Alavi, who under compulsion from ASADA provided documents and submitted to four interviews with investigators, in November and December 2013.
On April 14 last year, after ASADA’s investigations team had submitted its final report concluding that insufficient evidence had been gathered to prove the case against the Essendon players, investigator Aaron Walker was instructed by ASADA’s senior management to interview Mr Alavi a fifth time.
On this occasion, Mr Alavi told Mr Walker about a second shipment of peptides that had arrived from China about six weeks after the first. The only record of the shipment was a handwritten noted entered by Mr Alavi’s lab assistant in the pharmacy diary: “Thymosin 1g.”
When pressed for details, Mr Alavi produced certificates of analysis and other documents he claimed to have discovered in a storage facility.
The certificates of analysis secured by ASADA did not reveal the source of the peptides, when they were manufactured or who tested them. They also contained inaccurate molecular weights for the substances they purported to identify. The veracity of the documents was questioned by ASADA’s own expert witness, University of Sydney endocrinologist David Handelsman.
The tribunal, chaired by retired Victorian County Court judge David Jones, concluded the documents could not be trusted. “The tribunal has grave doubts about the authenticity of the certificates and, in particular, the Thymosin certificate,” the tribunal found.
According to the tribunal’s reasoned judgment handed down this week: “The ASADA CEO placed considerable reliance on the February certificates.”
Mr Alavi’s belated recollections about a second batch of Thymosin were slammed by the players’ lawyers. “It is submitted that, if anything, the evidence relating to this delivery is more vague, more imprecise and more generally lacking in documentary corroboration than the first delivery. There is no evidence about its origin, no invoices, email exchanges, international money transfers or claims for reimbursement. It is put that it is a ‘phantom’ delivery which seemingly appears out of thin air.”
The tribunal was not satisfied that the second shipment occurred; let alone that it contained Thymosin Beta 4. The tribunal was neither satisfied that the first shipment to Mr Alavi’s pharmacy contained Thymosin Beta 4 nor that the peptides were taken to Windy Hill by Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank.
Gives you something to think about regarding the fraud angle, doesn’t it?
When I read that I don’t think fraud - I think corruption. After 4 interviews Alavi suddenly decides to tell ASADA about another shipment. That reads to me like Alavi was being coerced or enticed to sell us out.
‘Nima they’re written in crayon on the back of a page ripped out of a Bananas In Pajamas colouring in book. And you did the colouring in first. Get ■■■■■■!’
‘You’ll see! ASADA will believe me! You’re in trouble now!’
Ah extortion from Alavi - I hadn’t looked at that angle assuming ASADA & AFL were more likely to resort to “black ops” methods. Could this be part of all the rumours floating around about Charters having info that could clear the players? It almost appeared he was publically stating I’m open to be bought.
The tribunal slammed all of Dank, Charters and Alavi for ‘acting in your own self interests and trying to feather your own nests’ (sic).
As you say, Charters virtually put himself in the yellow pages as witness for hire, Dank has played a tease for two years, and now we see Alavi pops up out of nowhere with these documents.
That’s my take anyway. All three, in their own way, trying to make an extra buck.
It seems to me most likely they got AOD but ASADA couldn’t identify the source. This was then used to argue that any actual evil drug could also appear out of the aether.
Otherwise, not sure why they’d advertise their deceit on that one for the first six months…