Essendon coach James Hird launches Supreme Court action against AFL after Wednesday's stunning revelations Michael Warner, Mark Robinson, Grant Baker
From: Herald Sun
August 22, 2013 12:27PMJAMES Hird's sensational Supreme Court writ against the AFL alleges league boss Andrew Demetriou and his deputy Gillon McLachlan "tipped off'' Essendon that its players had taken performance enhancing drugs.
Explosive court documents detail a phone call from Demetriou to then club chairman David Evans on the night of February 4 which allegedly alerted the Bombers to investigations into drug use at the club in 2012.
"Evans communicated the Demetriou 'tip off' to Hird and other Essendon officials including (football boss) Danny Corcoran and (then CEO) Ian Robson,'' the document says.
It is also alleged the league's deputy CEO McLachlan said to Hird at a meeting at AFL House the following day words to the effect: "You can't say Essendon did not use drugs, because my information is you have used them. Brett Clothier knows the names of the drugs and he will be here soon. The club should come forward to the AFL and ask for an investigation.
"Essendon should go public about the uncertainty surrounding its supplement program in 2012.
"The Australian Crime Commission is going to hand down a report. There is going to be a meeting of all the (sporting) codes''
"If you come forward earlier and invite ASADA to investigate, then the investigation will look better for you''.
The AFL opted not to comment on the court claims when contacted today by Herald Sun.
A statement of claim filed with the court today has asked the court to require Hird’s case be heard by an independent tribunal.
It has asked for injunctions, both interlocutory and final, restraining the AFL from allowing Andrew Demetriou to sit on any tribunal.
It also wants any commissioner who has been given access to the ASADA Intererim report to be banned from future hearings
Hird is also seeking an injunction restraining the AFL from proceeding with any hearing until he has been given:
PROPER particulars of the charges against him
DETAILS of the witnesses ther AFL proposes to call
DETAILS of the substance of the evidence they will give and
COPIES of all documents the AFL will seek to tender at the hearing.
Hird is also seeking damages for interference with contractactual relations and costs.
The claim has accused the AFL of not acting impartially.
It has also raised concerns that Hird will not be able to meet his contractual obligations with Essendon for the remainder of the season and finals series.
Lawyers for Hird filed a writ with the court about 10.50am.
"We will be instituting proceedings in the morning," the Essendon coach's lawyer, Stephen Amendola, told the Herald Sun yesterday.
The move comes as it emerged the AFL wanted the Bombers to accept a penalty deal which would have included Hird's head, a multi-million-dollar fine, the loss of possibly two years of draft picks and exclusion from this year's finals.
Essendon said it never considered the proposed "deal" from the AFL because it considered the sanction "armageddon".
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