What? You thought this was over?
Like a loo that’s suddenly lost its flush, this shit just keeps coming back. After local anti-doping watchdog ASADA failed – on a unanimous level – to reach even a comfortable satisfaction of proof following the nigh-on three year investigation into the rather suss and shambolic supplements program run at the Essendon Football Club during season 2012, the world body WADA has now decided to step in and lodge and appeal.
34 past and present Essendon players were delivered verdicts of Not Guilty by the independently appointed AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal – an AFL-funded, but not board controlled, arbitration authority. The Tribunal found that ASADA’s assembled body of evidence that it collected over the course of the 785 day process could not prove to any comfortable satisfaction what it believed so vehemently to be true.
Following the verdict, ASADA and CEO Ben McDevitt announced their intentions to not appeal the decision. But today, the world body has used its option to appeal, and now yet another season of football has an impenetrably black cloud hanging over it.
The WADA appeals process differs greatly from ASADA’s. Whereas ASADA would have to have gone back through the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, WADA has overarching international power to take the issue to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is based in Switzerland, but also has outposts in Sydney and New York.
The appeal process now is essentially a complete retrial of the case, with all evidence re-presented to the court, and all interviews and witnesses re-examined. WADA has the ability to produce new evidence to the court if it can. Though the burden of proof remains the same – they must establish known fault to comfortable satisfaction.
The process, according to WADA’s website, takes anywhere from 6 to 12 months. Officials believe that in an absolute best case scenario a result will be heard by December of this year.
The decision to appeal has caught both Essendon and the AFL by surprise, with all empirical evidence and the original verdict document suggesting there was very little about ASADA’s case that could lead to a successful appeal verdict.
It’s worth noting that ASADA CEO Ben McDevitt had made a flying visit to WADA headquarters in Montreal in the weeks between announcing ASADA would not appeal, and WADA’s announcement this morning.
Photo: Paul Kane via Getty Images.
via AFL.com.au
