Essendon considers its position
Essendon and four of the club’s top officials, including coach James Hird, will “vigorously defend” charges by the AFL that they brought the game into disrepute.
Senior assistant Mark Thompson, football manager Danny Corcoran and club doctor Bruce Reid along with Hird and the club are scheduled face the AFL Commission on August 26.
It’s possible the club and officials may seek an injunction or delay until after the finals in September.
AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon, who announced the charges on Tuesday night, said on evidence currently before the league no anti-doping charges will be laid against Bomber players.
However, the ASADA investigation into last year’s supplements saga is ongoing.
Dillon made no mention of potential penalties.
Immediately following the AFL’s announcement, which comes after ASADA had been investigating the club for six months, the Bombers issued a statement saying they would mount a vigorous defence.
“Essendon takes these matters very seriously. They are based on assertions contained in an interim report from ASADA and will be vigorously defended,” Bombers chairman Paul Little said.
“These are very complex matters and whilst the Essendon Football Club is determined to resolve them expeditiously, that cannot be at the expense of thoroughness and due process that affords all parties natural justice to ensure a fair outcome.”
He said Hird, Thompson, Corcoran and Reid would continue in their jobs while the matter was decided, as to stand them down beforehand would be to deny them natural justice.
Little welcomed the news that no infraction notices were issued to players, saying the club had maintained throughout the investigation that there was no breach of the anti-doping code.
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But he acknowledged the Bombers had made mistakes.
“Our governance and people management had significant gaps,” Little said.
The charges stem from an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation into the club, which began in February, after the club reported concerns with their 2011-12 supplement program.
While Dillon said there wasn’t currently evidence to support anti-doping charges against players, he noted more information could come to light.
“I note the investigation into Essendon’s 2011-12 supplements program by ASADA and the AFL remains open and could lead to further charges under the AFL rules against other individuals,” he said.
There are a range of penalty options open to the AFL if the charges already laid are sustained, including stripping the Bombers of premiership points, taking away draft picks, imposing fines, and suspending and fining the officials charged.
The scheduled hearing date is just four days before the start of this year’s finals, and if the Bombers are stripped of points they could lose their place in them.
Already the saga has claimed the jobs of chief executive Ian Robson, who resigned in May soon after the findings of an internal review of Essendon’s governance processes was released.
Chairman David Evans resigned in late July, after a post-match health episode the previous night.
High performance manager Dean Robinson, who was suspended by the club when they called for the investigation, resigned a day earlier than Evans and has threatened to sue the club.
HOW THE ESSENDON SUPPLEMENTS SCANDAL UNFOLDED
Late 2009: David Evans appointed Essendon chairman. Ian Robson leaves Hawthorn to become Essendon’s chief executive.
September 2010: James Hird appointed Essendon coach. Mark Thompson is one of his deputies
2011: Essendon finish eighth. It is clear too many Bombers lack body bulk and strength compared to the top sides. Hird promises an intense pre-season.
Late 2011: Fitness coach Dean Robinson, nicknamed “The Weapon”, joins Essendon. Sports scientist Stephen Dank subsequently follows him to the club.
2012: Essendon start the season superbly with an 8-1 record. But they suffer a spate of soft-tissue injuries and drop off badly with eight losses from their last nine games to finish 11th.
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August 2012: Essendon sack Dank after cost overruns with the supplements program and Robinson receives an official warning.
February 4, 2013: Senior Essendon officials meet at Evans’ home for a crisis meeting about the 2012 supplements program. AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou rings Evans, but insists there was nothing untoward about the call.
February 5: Essendon announce they are reporting to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the AFL about their 2012 supplements program. The same day, Robinson is suspended.
February 7: The Australian Crime Commission releases a landmark report into organised crime and Australian sport.
February 11: Dank says Hird and other senior Essendon officials were aware of the details of the supplements program.
February 27: Essendon announce an independent review into the governance at the club, with former Telstra boss, Ziggy Switkowski heading the investigation.
April 11: Dank says he injected Hird with the banned drug hexarelin, a claim the Essendon coach says is “horrifying”.
April 12: Essendon come from behind to beat Fremantle in Perth – an early sign of the team’s strong form despite the ongoing crisis.
April 16: Hird is interviewed by ASADA investigators.
May 6: The Switkowski report is released. Its damning findings include a “pharmacologically experimental environment” in 2012 at the club.
May: ASADA investigators start interviewing Essendon players.
May 23: Robson resigns and is replaced by Ray Gunston.
June 24: Essendon captain and reigning Brownlow Medallist Jobe Watson reveals he believes he took the banned drug AOD-9604, but also stresses he does not think he did anything wrong.
July 25: Demetriou’s February 4 phone call to Evans is revealed. There is also speculation of a rift between Evans and Hird, plus talk of concerns at board level about how Evans is handling the crisis. After a board meeting that night, Evans says he will continue as chairman.
July 26: Dean Robinson resigns and his lawyer says he is planning legal action against the Bombers.
July 26: The Essendon board publicly backs Evans. Before the match against Hawthorn, Evans says there is no rift with Hird. Evans has a health episode in the Essendon rooms post-match. In his post-match media conference, Hird emotionally says the investigations must end soon or there is a risk some people will be affected permanently. It is unclear if he is referring to Evans.
July 27: Evans announces his shock resignation.
July 28: Hird’s legal team accuses the AFL of repeatedly leaking information about the investigations. Paul Little takes over as Essendon chairman.
August 2: The AFL receive ASADA’s 400-page interim report into the saga, but announce that the investigation is ongoing.
August 4: The report is handed to the Bombers. Later that day they suffer a 79-point loss to Collingwood, their biggest defeat of the season so far.
August 13: The AFL charge the Bombers with bringing the game into disrepute. Coach James Hird, senior assistant Mark Thompson, football manager Danny Corcoran and club doctor Bruce Reid are also charged with bringing the game into disrepute. Penalties are not mentioned. No anti-doping charges are laid against players at this time.
