After weeks and weeks of not much information at all, the AFL has handed down their charges to the Essendon Bombers in relation to the ASADA investigation into the club’s 2011/2012 supplements program. The club, coach James Hird, senior assistant Mark Thompson, football manager Danny Corcoran and club doctor Bruce Reid are all facing charges of “engaging in conduct that is unbecoming or likely to prejudice the interests or reputation of the Australian Football League or to bring the game of football into disrepute, contrary to rule 1.6.”
Essendon chairman Paul Little released a statement today, asserting that “Essendon takes these matters very seriously”. Good to hear. While the charges will be “vigorously defended”, Little admits “there is no doubt the club and individuals have made mistakes and that our governance and people management had significant gaps.”
Essendon will face an AFL commission hearing on August 26, where they could face having premiership points stripped, restrictions to their draft picks, officials suspended, and hefty fines imposed. The ASADA report, upon which the charges are based, suggest that players were supplied by the club with AOD-9604, a banned anti-obesity drug. Since there don’t appear to be any Boombahs at the Bombers, it must’ve worked.
No charges have been laid against players themselves, with captain Jobe Watson issuing a statement in defence of the club, saying, “as we’ve said all along, none of us believed we’d done anything wrong in relation to the 2012 supplements program.” Time will tell whether or not this announcement means fans are still allowed to boo Watson when he takes to the field in Essendon’s clash with North Melbourne this Saturday.
