Here we bloody go again.
The sports story that just refuses to end is having yet another epilogue tacked on to it, with the entire Essendon 34 filing an appeal against their year-long suspensions handed to them by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bombshell decision that rocked the AFL world.
The group, in its entirety, filed the paperwork for the appeal at the very last possible moment, meaning that the case will now be taken to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court in Lausanne in Switzerland.
Some players in the group were understood to be apprehensive about filing the appeal, but confirmation that the legal costs for all players would be covered by the Essendon Football Club‘s insurance company swayed everyone.
The decision to appeal is a no-lose scenario for the players and the club, with legal bills covered by insurance, and no injunction against the suspensions being sought. The players will continue to serve their suspensions whilst proceedings take place – likely to last for several months – with the two outcomes being that they either get their names cleared, or serve their suspension knowing that they exhausted all legal avenues.
‘Course if they do get the decision overturned, WADA has the ability to appeal that. Because this whole fucking thing is stuck on an infinite loop.
The group will argue that WADA, the CAS, and the AFL essentially moved the goalposts mid-hearing in order to be more conducive to a guilty verdict.
The hearing, to be heard entirely in French, is not expected to commence for several months.
Source: The Age.
Photo: Michael Dodge/Getty.
