Australian Rules footballers banned for doping

The players, including 12 now registered with Essendon, are suspended for the 2016 season. The vehicle maker’s deal with Essendon, which is in its fourth year, expires at the end of 2016.

“After the handing down of today’s decision and acknowledging its impact, Channel Seven will continue this support and will stand by Essendon and assist them as they go about the rebuilding of their great club”.

“This unfortunate episode has chronicled the most devastating self-inflicted injury by a sporting club in Australian history”, he told reporters.

Australia’s biggest doping scandal in domestic sport, Essendon were heavily sanctioned by the AFL in 2013 after a joint investigation with the country’s national anti-doping authority uncovered an organised and highly dubious regime of supplement injections given to players. In this anti-doping proceeding, the CAS was required to find the case of WADA proved if it was comfortably satisfied that the anti-doping rule violation occurred, bearing in mind the seriousness of the allegation made.

The 2012 Brownlow Medallist also stated that the group was “struggling to come to terms” with the decision, which rejected a motion of no significant fault and instead imposed the maximum penalty on all 34 past and present players involved.

WADA director general David Howman said the CAS decision upheld the standards of proof set out in the WADA code.

AFL CEO Gillion McLachlan said yesterday that Watson’s Brownlow Medal, awarded in 2012, would be reviewed in February in light of the doping verdict.

Last August, 12 Cronulla Sharks players accepted one-year bans from ASADA, for taking banned supplements.

Essendon’s committee, led by former Labor Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner, was meeting at the club’s headquarters at Tullamarine near Melbourne airport to decide what action to take, including possible appeals to the Victorian Supreme Court and to the Swiss Federal Tribunal which has ajudicated previous CAS decisions.

AFL reaction While the overturning of that result is highly unlikely, the AFL has been rocked by the CAS decision.

“The players had received anti-doping education through the AFL and ASADA, and were well aware that they are personally responsible for all substances that entered their body”.

“But as a club, we should have had more robust systems in place to ensure the protection of our players”.

There has been widespread speculation that the 34 players will take the club to court and millions of dollars would be at stake.

Former coach James Hird labelled it a “miscarriage of justice”.

“What they did at the time is nothing short of disgraceful and you can’t escape that”, Australian Football League Players Association (AFLPA) chief executive Paul Marsh said.