Sorry Saga - Why do we fight?

:face_with_symbols_over_mouth::nauseated_face:

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Great get, bigallan. Why are none of us surprised?

I remember speaking to our good friend, the late Senator John Madigan, who in growing to understand the manner in which the Essendon players were targeted, described the CAS as “the Star Chamber”. I had never heard that descriptor before and researched it. John was correct, and history shows how horribly it went wrong for those the system was designed to help.

And who should be at the centre of it all but, John Coates.

The article shows that these old men in gray suits have no regard for governance, independent oversight, integrity and accountability. They are indeed, John, a Star Chamber.

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Bruce Francis’s 8th attempt to get his claim heard before AAT will begin tomorrow. The Hearing is via video link with the ASADA defense comprising 3 lawyers from SIA and another 3 from the Attorney General’s Dept. AG will be lead by Senior Executive Lawyer, Justin Davidson.

Should be an interesting couple of days. Check the HS tomorrow.

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Tribunal stoush over secret Essendon supplements document

Sport Integrity Australia is fighting the release of a secret report used to charge 34 Essendon players with anti-doping violations.

Stephen DrillStephen Drill

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@steveheraldsun

2 min read

December 5, 2021 - 7:00PM

News Corp Australia Network

01:16

A secret document used to charge 34 Essendon players with anti-doping violations is being sought at a tribunal hearing on Monday.

Sport Integrity Australia is fighting the release of a key piece of evidence used to ban the Bombers players from the game and label them as drug cheats.

Campaigner Bruce Francis is taking the body to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal in Brisbane at 10am.

He is seeking the release of the “CEO Recommendation Show Cause Pack”.

It is understood that the AFL will give evidence supporting Sport Integrity Australia, the body that replaced the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, seeking to keep the document secret.

The AFL is expected to argue that releasing the document will compromise its relationship with the sport watchdog.

The CEO Recommendation Show Cause Pack was partly based on ASADA’s official briefing to the Anti-Doping Review Violation Panel.

That panel needed to sign off on any charges against players.

Former Essendon coach James Hird spoke about the supplements saga at The Ethics Centre in 2016 in Sydney. Pictur: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

Former Essendon coach James Hird spoke about the supplements saga at The Ethics Centre in 2016 in Sydney. Pictur: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

A redacted document seen by the Herald Sun details the briefing that ASADA gave to the panel.

The document refers to Thymosin as the substance that was injected into the Essendon players.

However, Thymosin Beta 4 was the banned substance.

It was expected that Mr Francis, a former Test cricketer who has been campaigning for the Essendon players to be exonerated, would argue that there was no evidence of the banned substance being used.

The briefing notes, which were released under Freedom of Information laws, detail the outline of the case against Essendon and its players.

It states that ASADA’s then chief executive Ben McDevitt was provided with evidence of “possible violations”.

The document also outlines how players signed a consent form for the use of a substance called Thymosin.

Jobe Watson, right, lost his Brownlow Medal as a result of the doping scandal. Picture. Phil Hillyard

Jobe Watson, right, lost his Brownlow Medal as a result of the doping scandal. Picture. Phil Hillyard

The use of the supplements was between January 2012 and September 2012.

Essendon self-reported its supplement use in a press conference on February 5, 2013, where then coach James Hird said he was “very disappointed.”

The Australian Crime Commission made its report Drugs in Sport public two days later.

The report claimed it had evidence of widespread use of “prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs in professional sport and highlighted links to organised crime.”

The AFL disqualified Essendon from the 2013 finals, fined the club $2 million and stripped of its picks in the first two rounds of the 2013 and 2014 national drafts in 2013.

The AFL’s Anti-Doping Tribunal later found in 2015 that it was not satisfied there was evidence that Essendon players breached the anti-doping code.

In its judgement, it said: “Many of the reasons provided by the ASADA CEO were contentious and lacked any proper evidentiary basis.”

The World Anti-Doping Authority appealed the AFL’s decision.

In January 2016, the Court of Arbitration for Sport found against Essendon.

It banned 34 players, including 12 who were still on the list, from professional sport for 12 months.

Captain Jobe Watson was also stripped of his Brownlow Medal.

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So if he wins this case and the document is released, what impact, if any, will it have?

Kinda depends what it says, doesn’t it?

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Right…

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Funny that, in response to an FOI request, McDevitt and his troops were unable to locate any records of the ADRVP discussions than the decision. After repeated requests for a yes or no whether there were any records, he was unable to give a No.

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I heard his trousers immediately caught fire.

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Absolutely none at all. Exercise in pointlessness.

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We send Baldwin back to February 4th 2013 in a time machine to terminate Evens & Demetriou prior to the press conference. We then go on to win the next 9 premierships and James Hird is elected Earth overlord.

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FFS! SIX high paid lawyers, including a “Senior Executive” against one pensioner.

They must have squandered millions of taxpayers’ dollars by now to prevent the truth from coming out.

Wasting that much money (even if it is not their own) indicates that there really is something there that they are desperate to hide!

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Anagram for Integrity is ‘Tiny Tiger’

Tiny Tiger is a thylacine with an ironic name initially created by Nitrus Brio. He is often seen working for the mad scientist

Mad scientist = Stephen Dank

Sport Integrity Australia worked for Stephen Dank.

WE WERE SETUP!

Alex
Why do you bother? You consistently tell those us who want the truth to come out to move on. If you are fair dinkum have a look at the Dreyfus case from the turn of the 20th century in France. It took years and only after people fought for the truth to come out for Dreyfus to be exonerated. Why do you bother to look at this thread? What are your motives?

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Is Francis legally represented or is he doing these hearing on his own?

I look at the thread because it’s on blitz. Motives? Someone asked what will come of all this so I provided what I thought would be the likely outcome.

This isn’t some French military courtroom drama, it’s one old dude with way too much time on his hands ■■■■■■■ into the wind.

AT you are spot on. I was involved in a case last year where representation by a Legal Company “senior partner” was $5k a day. Lord knows how much this is case is costing. When you tally up the costs of 6 legals, 7 adjournments, discussions, meetings, etc etc I expect the costs to ASADA could be $250k or more.

You might remember another FOI request back in 2019 that went to the AAT. one adjournment and two ASADA legals. The cost to ASADA was about $69K. The matter was raised at Senate estimates as it appeared as non budgeted expense.

We will be chasing the cost of this case for sure.

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Bruce will not be legally represented at the Tribunal. His support will come from his two witnesses.

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He’s a ■■■■■■?

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Sorry if this is a silly question, do we know who the two witnesses are?