ASADA declares: Bring on the AFL tribunal hearingJon Pierik
The Age
December 6, 2014Australian anti-doping chief Ben McDevitt has declared his lawyers are ready to prosecute their case against Essendon, regardless of whether his two key witnesses appear before the AFL Tribunal.
McDevitt said on Friday that while the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority would prefer that biochemist Shane Charter and compound pharmacist Nima Alavi appeared at the December 15 hearing, authorities still had a strong case against the 34 current and former Essendon players charged with being administered the banned drug, thymosin beta 4.
"By placing the names on the Register of Findings, the [anti-doping rule violation] panel confirmed my view that possible doping violations had occurred at Essendon in 2012," McDevitt said. "It should be noted the tribunal is not a court and is not bound by the rules of evidence.
"Despite media reports to the contrary, while it is my preference for potential witnesses to front the tribunal in person, I do not believe it is essential. It's now time to test this evidence in a tribunal and we are ready."
Read more at: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/supplements-saga/asada-declares-bring-on-the-afl-tribunal-hearing-20141205-1215w8.html