Essendon supplements saga: AFL says scandal a 'stain on our game', allows Dons to add 10 players, orders review of Jobe Watson's Brownlow Medal
Updated
The AFL has responded to the Court of Arbitration for Sport doping (CAS) decision, saying Essendon and its players have paid a high price for doping offences, but emphasising that the scandal will not define the club, or the game.
The CAS handed down a guilty verdict on Tuesday which resulted in 12-month bans for 34 current and former Essendon players for the use of the banned substance Thymosin Beta-4.
In a media conference on Tuesday, the AFL stated it was committed to clean sport, but vowed to help the Bombers to overcome the loss of players to allow them to field a side in 2016.
But AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the league was ordering a review of the 2012 Brownlow Medal won by Essendon captain Jobe Watson, foreshadowing that Watson and other interested parties would be invited to address the February meeting of the AFL Commission.
Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick described the Essendon supplements program as a "stain on our game".
"It's had terrible impact on the players, the club and the reputation of the AFL. It struck at the very heart of our game, the integrity of the competition, health and safety of the players," Fitzpatrick said.
"The players have received a very harsh punishment today in having a doping violation recorded and a suspension until November 2016.
"This Essendon process has taken too long and CAS's judgment today invites a discussion about the way the code applies to team sports in future. An invitation, we will accept.
"We look forward to working with ASADA and WADA and with the Government to keep sport clean and to protect the health and safety of players."
McLachlan said the commission had met by telephone hook-up to discuss the CAS decision, and that the league accepted and acknowledged the verdict, adding that the suspensions had to stand as part of a commitment to clean sport.
"The welfare of the 34 affected players is paramount," he said.
"We will be working with the AFL Players' Association, the club and all players and their representatives to get them through this extraordinarily tough period.
"Essendon has given generations of its fans a reason to combine a shared love of the game, providing the equal most flags in our history and three of our Hall of Fame legends. It now needs its supporters to be with them at their lowest time."
League reveals help for Essendon and other affected clubs
The league had decided that Essendon could upgrade all of its five rookie-listed players to the senior list as a one-for-one replacement for suspended players.
The Bombers would also be granted the ability to sign up to 10 extra players to its list by powers granted by the commission to AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon.
Existing payments for suspended players would be included in the total player payments allocation, while extra payments to supplementary players would also be included in the salary cap, while an allowance would be given to cover payments over the cap limit.
"In summary, it is the AFL's view that Essendon must be able to field a competitive team, to provide a safe working environment for both their own players and opposition players and these rules around replacement players are necessary for the club to be able to field a side around these doping bans," McLachlan said.
McLachlan said the other clubs affected by suspended players - Port Adelaide (Patrick Ryder and Angus Monfries), Melbourne (Jake Melksham), St Kilda (Jake Carlisle) and Western Bulldogs (Stewart Crameri) - could immediately upgrade a rookie to the senior list as a replacement for any suspended player.
He also confirmed the commission's decision that the 2012 Brownlow Medal needed to be reviewed in light of the court decision.
Commission to review Brownlow Medal award
"It is the AFL's view that due process must apply in this matter," McLachlan said.
"Therefore, it was determined that the full commission must hear this issue and there will be a February meeting to provide the appropriate level of time for parties to be prepared. Jobe Watson will be invited to address the commission as potentially with other relevant parties."
Those relevant parties are likely to include Richmond's Trent Cotchin and Hawthorn's Sam Mitchell, who finished joint second behind Watson in the 2015 Brownlow Medal count.
McLachlan said that while it had been a dark period for AFL, the last four years would not define Essendon or Australian football.
"The club now has two respected people, the new chairman Lindsay Tanner and new coach John Worsfold and the AFL is committed to doing whatever we can to assist the club moving forward," he said.
"Our competition is stronger when Essendon is strong and our clubs want to see Essendon recover and rebuild and be the fierce and passionate competitors that they are.
"Today is a marker for the Essendon football club going forward.
"Whether they are contesting for the eight in 2017 or whether they are going to go through a long tough period will be defined by the decisions that are made by people at the club but also around the club and others over the next weeks and months.
"This is a huge test for the leadership of the club, it is a huge test for our industry but I'm confident, with good decision-making, that it won't be something that hangs a round for a decade."
Topics: sport, australian-football-league, doping-in-sports, melbourne-3000, vic, adelaide-5000, sa, australia
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