Little’s boy lost and it’s going to cost as doping bill may top $8mHerald-Sun
October 05, 2014 A FULL payout of James Hird’s two-year contract would tip Essendon’s doping investigations expenses over the $8 million mark.
Club bosses must now decide whether or not to sack Hird, a move that could cost about $1.5 million.
The cost of defending the club’s experimental 2012 supplements program continues to climb, with another $1 million forked out on Thursday when the club’s former fitness boss Dean Robinson settled a wrongful dismissal claim.
Hird was paid almost $1 million in a lump sum by the club in December to sit out 2014.
A study tour to Europe, agreed as part of his AFL suspension, is also being part-funded by the Bombers.
An $800,000 instalment of last year’s $2 million AFL fine is due on December 31, with a final $800,000 to be paid by the end of 2015. Last month’s Federal Court stoush cost the club about $850,000 in legal costs, including costs to ASADA.
Hird has paid his own expenses and is estimated to have already forked out about $500,000 in legal fees in his fight against ASADA and the AFL. The legal costs for the 34 former and current Essendon players being represented by a team of lawyers engaged by the AFL Players’ Association are also being footed by the club. If some players continue to maintain their innocence, rather than make a deal with ASADA, the saga could drag on for two more years.
Bombers chairman Paul Little — Australia’s 56th richest man with an estimated personal fortune of $880 million — has declared no player will ever admit to guilt, a requirement from ASADA for any discounted penalty.
Little outlined what good financial news there was to the Bombers’ faithful at Wednesday’s best-and-fairest count.
He said revenue had hit a record $64 million in 2014 and the club had reduced its planned debt on its Tullamarine headquarters from $5 million last year to $3.52 million.
Critics say the $8 million would have been better spent on the football department, finishing the Tullamarine facility and clearing debt, though some of the costs will be offset by insurance.
“The club will never be able to move on until it finally confronts the truth of events that have only been the subject of speculation to outsiders,” club member Jackson Taylor said in a notice to spill the board distributed to Essendon supporters last week. “This has always been the source of the club’s weakness, and the board has no one to blame but itself.”
Hird and his lawyers will return to the Federal Court on Thursday, when Justice Susan Kenny will decide whether to expedite his appeal.
http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/littles-boy-lost-and-its-going-to-cost-as-doping-bill-may-top-8m/story-fndv7pj3-1227080171266 
