Guilty - 12 month bans
No surprise from me, as soon as WADA appealed I thougt they were goneskis
Watch for the massive law suits fromt he players against their incompetant club & the AFL.
Hindsight is a great thing... in hindsight they should have taken the ASADA deals on offer. Would be playing in 2016
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Anyways from the HUN
Essendon drug scandal: CAS verdict on Bombers live coverageUPDATE: THE Essendon 34 have been found guilty of doping.
Twelve current Bombers stars including skipper Jobe Watson, Dyson Heppell and Michael Hurley have been banned until November meaning they will miss the entire 2016 AFL season.
The stunning verdict means Watson’s 2012 Brownlow Medal could also be stripped.
Essendon chairman Lindsay Tanner said in a statement: “Regrettably we can confirm the Court of Arbitration for Sport has found 34 past and present players guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation.
“As a result, the players — including 12 currently listed with Essendon — have been suspended for the 2016 season. The club is currently digesting the decision and we will provide a further update later today.”
“to its comfortable satisfaction” that clause 11.2 of the 2010 AFL Doping Code (use of a prohibited substance) had been violated and found by a majority that all players were “significantly at fault”.
“The 34 players concerned are sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 31 March 2015, with credit given for any individual period of ineligibility already served,” CAS said
“Thus, most of the suspensions will come to an end in November 2016.”
The AFL Commission will hold an emergency meeting via telephone hook-up to discuss the shock result and how it will affect the coming season. It will be up to the discretion of the Commission to decide whether Watson loses his Brownlow Medal.
Former Essendon star Matthew Lloyd said the news was a nightmare for all involved.
“That is the club’s and the AFL’s worst nightmare,” he told Channel 9.
He later told 3AW that he felt “sick to the stomach” about the decision.
“Watson, 30 years of age, gone for one year. Do we ever see him play again?” Lloyd said.
Ex-Geelong forward Cameron Mooney said his “heart breaks” for the players.
“What do you say here? My heart breaks for these boys,” he said on SEN.
“That is horrendous news ... I was not expecting 12 months. I thought maybe they were going to be found guilty. I thought a little bit less. I’m completely shocked.”
Five players now at other clubs — Western Bulldog Stuart Crameri, Port Adelaide pair Angus Monfries and Paddy Ryder, St Kilda’s Jake Carlisle and Melbourne’s Jake Melksham have also been suspended.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport this morning informed all parties it had upheld the World Anti-Doping Agency appeal in the long-running case.
It follows a not-guilty finding delivered by the AFL anti-doping tribunal last year.
The CAS panel ruled it was “comfortably satisfied” the 34 players had been injected with the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 while playing for Essendon during the 2012 season.
The other current Essendon players to serve immediate suspensions are Cale Hooker, Brent Stanton, Michael Hibberd, David Myers, Tayte Pears, Ben Howlett, Tom Bellchambers, Heath Hocking and Travis Colyer.
Seventeen of the 34 have since retired or been delisted.
The man at the centre of the saga, former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank, said this morning: “This is corruption at its highest. These guys have done nothing wrong and there is no evidence as such”.
Essendon has already been granted approval to recruit “top-up” players from the VFL and other state leagues to help field a team this season.
Essendon begins its 2016 season against the Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on March 26.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/essendon-drug-scandal-cas-verdict-on-bombers-live-coverage/news-story/f34f161721b0d0806273808da5dade18
