Essendon coach James Hird says he is yet to see a copy of ASADA’s 400-page interim report into last year’s supplements program at Essendon but is adamant he will not resign from the AFL club.
The AFL on Friday received the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s report and officials are reviewing the findings and hope to determine any sanctions against Essendon before the finals.
The Bombers received the report on Sunday and chairman Paul Little said on Wednesday night they were confident their players had done nothing wrong in relation to performance-enhancing drugs but couldn’t say unequivocally that would be the outcome.
Hird offered a stern “no” when asked by reporters outside his home on Thursday if he would resign.
Bombers legend Tim Watson upset AFL boss Andrew Demetriou with comments that the AFL were readying the public for sanctions to be handed out to Essendon, including the loss of premiership points, and Hird said his players were his main concern.
You might like
“Our priority has always been in clearing the players when they’re cleared we’ll go to the rest of it,” Hird said.
Despite being the remaining figurehead at the Bombers following the resignations of chief executive Ian Robson and chairman David Evans, Hird said he is yet to view a copy of the ASADA report.
“I don’t have a copy of the report,” he said.
“That would be a stretch to say I’ve seen it. I’ve heard what’s in it but haven’t seen it.”
Stay informed, daily
Former ASADA chairman Richard Ings threw further light on the lack of clarity in the ASADA report when he said yesterday that he expected “no answers”.
“I can imagine what is in it. All process and no answers,” he tweeted yesterday.
Earlier on TripleM in Adelaide he said it was important to remember that not one player has been charged with returning a positive test to performance enhancing drugs.
It’s now six months since Australian sport was plunged into an integrity crisis an Australian Crime Commission report that referred to drug use and criminal activities in sport.
At a media conference on February 6, Federal Justice Minister Jason Clare referred to it as “darkest day in Australian sport”.
So far, there’s been little to support such a claim.
