The Australian National Audit Offce is conducting an investigation of the effectiveness of SIA’s management of anti-doping.
It is scheduled to report in January 2025.
It is open for contributions.
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As from 2021, the UCI delegated its testing to the International Testing Authority. It was involved in the UCI backdated suspension of an Australian cyclist (Stannard), connected to anomalies in his Biological Passport.
Bol’s sample was tested by Australian Sports Drug Testing Authority located in Sydney. The revelations of the review (specifically on the Bol test result) by a panel of worldwide experts labelled the test method used for detection of EPO as being “subjective, old-fashioned and unsophisticated”.
WADA looked at it and changes were made but that didn’t help Bol. The same group of experts in review commented that the changes would not necessarily prevent another case like Bol’s.
As a matter of interested J34 made a submission to the ANAO for an audit of ASADA following the suspension of the Essendon players. A polite response stated that ASADA was not included within the scope of their Audit Schedule.
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Of course it isn’t being included…
The cover up persists, way too many bodies on both sides of the house.
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Absolutely. There must have been a change in policy or the scope of jurisdiction of the ANAO to now look at SIA. The Jack and Bol cases were well publicised, especially the degree of involvement of SIA. Statements by Sharpe were disingenuous and patronising. Where McDevitt used the sledgehammer approach, Sharpe is more underhanded and deceitful.
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Ok so copy and paste second time lucky?
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Possibly, Tracey Holmes could be prepared to cast an eye over a draft. She is heavily into the politics of anti doping, including athlete rights. She also has good international connections and is respected.
Some Blitzers may recall that she spoke at a J34 forum.
( Mick Warner could also be interested, given the anti-AFL agenda of his editor and his own experience).
The cosy relationships between sports federations and anti doping bodies is a worry.
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Such a big story!
Feel like it comes out.
So much to be gained for who comes out first!
It’s getting close I think.
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One of the worst aspects is the discount on your suspension if you plead guilty and the coercion to lie.
So many of the 34 former players have employment connected, directly or indirectly, to the AFL. And they would have signed NDAs .
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Yeah I was there that night Tracey chaired. I met you there too!
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When an Australian statutory body acts as an agent of a foreign corporation (WADA) but has no say in its rules……
( It’s our taxpayers money, but what value does it bring to the community?)
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It needs a 2017 to 2024 update.
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As I see it, SIA effectiveness in administering anti-doping is (a) a systemic issue in regard to its powers within the international structure and domestically, in regard to its relationship with sport federations ( national and international), its accountability, including transparency going down to its track record on FOI); and (b) how it applies those powers in individual cases, including to the weighting it gives to human rights of athletes, whether it is acting as a quasi police force
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I have been alerted to a post on twitter by a supporter of J34, Tracey Holmes, that CEO of SIA, David Sharpe, has resigned.
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Done.
Not suggesting Sharpe leaving is related but I was looking at SIA’s employee census results for 2023 just a few days ago and was thinking it didn’t sound like an overly happy workplace. They ranked among the worst in the APS in a number of categories, particularly those relating to leadership.
I also thought this result was pretty telling:
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Coincidentally, it just so happens that the 2024 employee survey closed on Friday of last week. It will be interesting to see how things compare 12 months on.
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When I was engaged with ASADA , I was struck by the prominent role of lawyers, who got sucked into blocking transparency and the actions which could have delivered on how it was supposed to function.
I am reminded of being told to never let lawyers or accountants near the running of a institutional policy objectives, just dust them off as needed.
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I think in ASADA’a case the lawyers wouldn’t have had time to sit back and collect any dust. Weren’t they just acting as agents for WADA and lining up all of the strands in the cable from when the first try in front of the AFL hearing failed?
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It was the US lawyer for WADA, paid for by ASADA in cash and kind ( ASADA lawyers on his team)
During the CAS case, WADA suddenly switched from links in the chain to strands in the cable, for which the AFL lawyers didn’t have the technical experts on hand.
It was a total abuse of process, blindsided the AFL team.
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