James Hird might still be targeted by ASADA Jon Pierik
The Age
November 10, 2013 Former anti-doping chief Richard Ings maintains Essendon players will be issued with infraction notices, with James Hird's return as senior coach next year still attracting the attention of sports authorities.
As World Anti-Doping Agency chief John Fahey prepares to unveil a series of changes to the anti-doping code that would result in the AFL being forced to act against coaches and support staff who use substances that are banned for their players, he has spoken about the Essendon peptides saga, which has a ''few chapters'' to play out.
Hird was banned by the AFL for a year in August as part of a series of penalties handed to the Bombers and individual staff after the club pleaded guilty to bringing the game into disrepute. But an investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, which could yet conclude with infraction notices issued to players, continues.
In an interview on the ABC, Fahey, asked to comment about Hird being welcomed back by the Bombers after the 2014 season, replied: ''I don't know whether James Hird will be dealt with by ASADA. That's possible, before it's all over. So, again, what has happened in Essendon, or to Essendon, has been dealt with by the AFL under their rules. Nothing to do with ASADA's code or the rules I am responsible for as president of that body.
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''So, I have got to hold my fire until we are finished, until ASADA, a constituent member of WADA, concludes its inquiries and deals with the case in accordance with the code, and that may be some time yet.''
There were claims this year Hird and members of his coaching staff were injected with the drug Hexarelin, a substance that is banned for players. Hird denied the claims.
Under the current WADA code, it is not an offence for a coach to use drugs for personal use.
The proposed tough new rules, to be tabled at WADA's world conference in Johannesburg this week, would cover coaches, trainers and other support staff with a duty of care. But the length of penalties, and whether the ruling would be backdated, is unclear.
''One of the good things in the review and the changes that are coming is that it extends much further out to athlete support personnel that could include doctors, certainly coaches,'' Fahey said. ''It may include physiotherapists, it could include agents, it could include, in some cases, parents because all of those can sometimes have an influence on whether an athlete cheats or doesn't.''
That Essendon is yet to know some nine months after the scandal broke whether its players have been cleared or face sanctions of up to two years has frustrated many in the football world.
There have been reports six players will be handed infraction notices, while it's unclear whether Stephen Dank, the former club sports scientist at the centre of the program, will be interviewed under ASADA's new coercive powers.
''I believe there will be infractions. How many is a guess,'' Ings, the former ASADA chief, said on Saturday.
The AFL, however, still believes Essendon will not receive infraction notices, although deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan recently said ''we cannot ever rule it out''.
On the overall process ASADA has adopted while tackling the Bombers, Fahey said: ''I think we have got a few chapters to read in this one before it is finished. I will do my best to be patient along with everybody else.
''It's still to play out. That's as much as I can say, and the detail I just don't know.''
Mark Thompson, who was fined $30,000 for his role in the supplements program, will coach the Bombers next season. Hird's suspension officially expires on August 25.
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