Essendon peptide records may have 'disintegrated' says Stephen DankJon Pierik
The Age
April 15, 2015Stephen Dank, the architect of the Essendon supplements program, says the missing paperwork central to identifying what peptides had been administered to players was left with the Bombers but may now have "somehow disintegrated".
In an interview on Sky News on Tuesday night, Dank also claimed Bombers club doctor Bruce Reid endorsed the initial player blood tests, attacked AFL integrity officer Brett Clothier for not acting after his discussion about peptides with coach James Hird in 2011, and called for a Senate inquiry into the handling of the saga.
Stephen Dank, seen here during Tuesday night's interview, has called for a Senate inquiry into the handling of the supplements saga.
Stephen Dank, seen here during Tuesday night's interview, has called for a Senate inquiry into the handling of the supplements saga. Photo: Courtesy Sky News
The 34 past and present players who had been charged with being administered the banned drug thymosin beta-4 were cleared by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, with a key reason being the lack of paperwork outlining what they had been given in 2011 and '12.
Dank says he administered the legal drug thymomodulin, insisting the Bombers had said their players had respiratory problems and needed help dealing with colds and flu.
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority chief Ben McDevitt has urged Dank to deliver his records, but the man himself says he left all information with the club when he was sacked.
During the interview, Dank turned the spotlight on to the Bombers, declaring they should have the records.
"I left them with Essendon Football Club on the day that I left the football club. They are the property of Essendon Football Club," he said.
Dank said he did not have his own copy, conceding pages of information "could have" been binned.
"I think part of the issue was that, of course, they were moving premises. (At) that particular stage in 2012, we were at Windy Hill. Of course, they have taken up new premises near the airport," he said.
"So it certainly could have been the case that they were clearing out."
He said there had been individual folders for the various supplements used.
Endorsing the claims of Hird and fitness chief Dean Robinson that they wanted a safe and legal program, albeit one that was "head and shoulders" above rival clubs, Dank said he was forced to initially keep manual records.
"I started recording those manually in written notes waiting for the IT department to offer a vehicle by which we could record straight on there," he said.
"It didn't happen, so around about January 22 was when I took it on myself to start my own excel spreadsheet. (I) put all the written information in there and continued recording on excel spreadsheets."
The Bombers have said the AFL had forensic accounting firm Deloitte seize every computer hard drive and other records at the club as soon as it revealed it had reported its supplements program .
He said records kept by anti-ageing clinics Skinovate and Hypermed, where the players received treatment and had been injected, had been handed to ASADA.
He also "believed" the consent forms players had signed had been given to the anti-doping body.
"We kept quite a deal of paperwork, for a better term, at the club, during that football season. That particular paperwork was crucial to the management of the program," he said.
"Then suddenly the whole issue blows up post February 5, 2013, and we are hearing that there is no paperwork."
Dank said Reid, who would later outline his concerns about the program in a letter to Hird and football chief Paul Hamilton in January 2012 and to the AFL, had "never" objected to the blood tests and the program.
He denied claims Reid had been "marginalised".
"Certainly the indications while I was there was that he was. And one thing that has really struck me since I left Essendon that every person who has been involved in this investigation has come out with all sorts of statements after I left.
"But the reality is I had plenty of support while I was there. They all knew the processes, they all knew what was happening, and suddenly I am finding out about issues post February (2013)," he said.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/essendon-peptide-records-may-have-disintegrated-says-stephen-dank-20150414-1ml5yc.html
