Cuz gets a mention....Off-season drug-testing attackedCheryl Critchley | June 22, 2009
OFF-SEASON illicit drug testing is designed to protect the AFL "brand" at the expense of player privacy, academics claim.
But the AFL and drug experts have defended the policy, which is backed by the AFL Players' Association.
In a paper for an international sport studies conference, the academics say the AFL's Illicit Drugs Policy is convoluted and contradictory. They also criticise the NRL policy.
Victoria University Associate Professor Bob Stewart said the AFL's illicit drug regime was too punitive and an unnecessary breach of player privacy.
He said by trying to take the moral high ground and testing off-season, it was more punitive than the World Anti-Doping Agency and International Olympic Committee.
"When you read between the lines, it's to protect the (AFL) brand," he said.
Prof Stewart wrote the paper with fellow sports academics Daryl Adair from Sydney's University of Technology, Jason Mazanov from the University of New South Wales, and RMIT University's Aaron Smith.
Prof Stewart said Richmond's Ben Cousins, who admitted having a drug problem while at West Coast, was unfairly demonised despite never testing positive. He said while the AFL's three-strikes policy sounded good on the surface and had player welfare and wellbeing at the forefront, it impinged on their private time and could lead to a 12-week suspension.
"When they're socialising out of season, what they do is their business," Prof. Stewart said. "If they're breaking the law they're breaking the law.
"(This policy is) focusing on a non-performance enhancing drugs out-of-season, when no one really cares - or should care - about what pro-sports people are doing in their spare, and presumably, private time."
AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said it was one of only three sports in Australia with an illicit drug code, and the only Australian sport to publicly release test results.
He said the policy was introduced after wide consultation with experts and had full player support.
"The aim is to educate players on the dangers of making wrong decisions with the use of illicit drugs," he said.
Australian Drug Foundation CEO John Rogerson said the code worked well and helped rehabilitate players without the need to name and shame.
He said "plenty" of workplaces drug tested employees.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25668636-19742,00.html
