DOCSLIB.ORG

Afl Anti-Doping Tribunal Thursday, 18 December 2014 Day Two (Transcript-In-Confidence) - - - -

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Afl Anti-Doping Tribunal Thursday, 18 December 2014 Day Two (Transcript-In-Confidence) - - - - AFL ANTI-DOPING TRIBUNAL THURSDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2014 DAY TWO (TRANSCRIPT-IN-CONFIDENCE) - - - - - CHAIRMAN: MR DAVID JONES MR JOHN NIXON MR WAYNE HENWOOD COUNSEL ASSISTING: MR JUSTIN HOOPER - - - - - MR J. GLEESON QC with MS R. ENBOM appeared on behalf of AFL. MR M. HOLMES QC with MR P. KNOWLES appeared on behalf of the CEO of ASADA. MR D. GRACE QC with MR B. IHLE appeared on behalf of 32 players. MR S. NORTON on behalf of Mr and Mr - - - - - 1 CHAIRMAN: Good morning, everyone. Mr Holmes and Mr Knowles, 2 I would just like to say, and I think I speak for everyone 3 here, that we are just so shocked and saddened by the 4 tragic death of your colleague Katrina Dawson. We can 5 understand how difficult it is for members of the New 6 South Wales Bar in these awful circumstances, and of 7 course it's not only a situation where she tragically lost 8 her life but two other members of the Bar were hostages as 9 well. So we express our condolences and support to you at 10 this very difficult time. I suggest that before we start 11 we have a moment's silence as a mark of respect for those 12 who lost their lives. 13 MR HOLMES: Mr Jones, can I thank you. The connections and the 14 thoughts have been overwhelming us over the last few days, 15 and we appreciate that. 16 CHAIRMAN: Yes. It's very difficult, and you and Mr Knowles 17 have a job to do, and you'll do it, but no-one wants to 18 have to do it in circumstances like this and it's probably 19 particularly difficult for you because I understand she 20 was a member of the commercial bar or practised in that 21 area. So you probably had a lot of contact with her. 22 MR HOLMES: My son - there were family connections, not 23 professional connections, which makes it even more - have 24 a greater impact. 25 CHAIRMAN: Yes, and of course her brother is a senior member of 26 the New South Wales Bar. 27 MR HOLMES: Yes, and we both have professional and personal 28 connections. 29 CHAIRMAN: Yes. Well, we understand. If at any time you feel 30 you need a break, you just let us know. We have a 31 situation where - first of all, perhaps if we deal with .AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal 66 DISCUSSION 18/12/14 (Confidential) 1 the request of Mr Michael Abrahams to have leave to be 2 present on behalf of the Essendon Football Club. Is he 3 here at the moment? He may be outside. Can we have him 4 come in; thanks. 5 Mr Abrahams, we have your email. Before I ask 6 counsel for the other parties to address the Tribunal on 7 any matters they wish to raise, can I just clarify your 8 request to be present on behalf of the club. 9 MR ABRAHAMS: Certainly. 10 CHAIRMAN: Can you assist us as to, if you were granted leave, 11 what role you propose to take in the proceedings. You are 12 putting that the club has an interest in the outcome, and 13 there are a couple of things mentioned. One is the team 14 provision in the Code. Obviously if the players were 15 suspended, those that were still players with Essendon, 16 that would have a pretty substantial effect on the ability 17 of the football club to field a team. 18 I suppose another area is that it may be that as 19 part of our decision we may have to make findings that 20 reflect upon the Essendon Football Club in terms of the 21 way it conducted itself in relation to these matters. But 22 can you assist us as to how you would see your role if you 23 were present on behalf of the club? 24 MR ABRAHAMS: Certainly. My primary role would be - I would be 25 acting as a representative of the club, as a legal 26 representative. As a practical matter, I would expect it 27 would be primarily a monitoring role so the club may be 28 aware of what's taking place in the proceedings and make a 29 decision, if any matters are likely to arise, on which it 30 may want to make a submission, and we would want to have 31 the ability to request that opportunity to make a .AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal 67 DISCUSSION 18/12/14 (Confidential) 1 submission if such an issue arises. 2 As a practical matter, I don't envisage us having 3 a great deal to say or to extend the proceedings or 4 anything like that, but we don't know what will take 5 place, and as a matter of fairness our request is that we 6 be permitted to be present and be aware of what's going 7 on, and I can take those instructions back to the board 8 and chief executive officer of the club and be an active 9 participant insofar as, if there are any matters that 10 arise that we feel we have a need to make a submission on, 11 we can request the opportunity to do that. 12 CHAIRMAN: That's helpful. Thank you. This is a private 13 hearing, which you accept. 14 MR ABRAHAMS: Yes. 15 CHAIRMAN: We have had discussions on Monday with the parties 16 in relation to the question of confidentiality and trying 17 to ensure that the proceedings remain private. 18 MR ABRAHAMS: Yes. 19 CHAIRMAN: Each counsel on behalf of the legal practitioners 20 involved gave an undertaking to the Tribunal that the 21 information that's both evidence and documents that is put 22 before the Tribunal will only be used for the purposes of 23 the proceedings and, to the extent that information has to 24 be revealed to other people for the purposes of the 25 conduct of the proceedings, that best endeavours will be 26 used to ensure that that information is protected, that is 27 that it remains confidential. Would you be prepared to 28 give that undertaking if you were permitted to be present? 29 MR ABRAHAMS: I would certainly be prepared to give the 30 undertaking with regard to confidentiality. With regard 31 to an undertaking in terms of the use of documents, .AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal 68 DISCUSSION 18/12/14 (Confidential) 1 I would have to give some consideration to that because, 2 as you would be aware, there are a number of legal issues 3 in which the club is involved. There is a lot of 4 information out there that the club already has and 5 I wouldn't want to - - - 6 CHAIRMAN: Clearly there's a lot of material here that has come 7 from the records of the Essendon Football Club. Clearly 8 the club, for example, is well aware of sensitive 9 information relating to the players - - - 10 MR ABRAHAMS: Yes. 11 CHAIRMAN: That we wish to protect. So the club is aware of 12 that, and I'm sure the club is aware of the importance of 13 ensuring the confidentiality of that sensitive material in 14 terms of the way in which it acts. 15 MR ABRAHAMS: Absolutely. 16 CHAIRMAN: Any undertaking, as I see it, can't relate to 17 documents that are already in possession which you may 18 need to use for other purposes. What we are talking about 19 is information that is gained through the proceedings 20 which is information that you don't otherwise have. 21 MR ABRAHAMS: In principle I don't see any difficulties with 22 that. I would like to document that and give that some 23 consideration. But in principle I don't have any 24 objection. 25 CHAIRMAN: All right. I think I need now to ask the parties as 26 to - essentially your interests and the interests of the 27 players coincide, don't they? 28 MR ABRAHAMS: I would suspect so. 29 CHAIRMAN: In the sense that you both want a situation where 30 there is no violation. 31 MR ABRAHAMS: Absolutely. .AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal 69 DISCUSSION 18/12/14 (Confidential) 1 CHAIRMAN: Correct? 2 MR ABRAHAMS: Correct. 3 CHAIRMAN: Mr Gleeson, what would you like to say about the 4 application of Mr Abrahams? 5 MR GLEESON: Mr Chairman, the AFL has no objection to a 6 representative of the Essendon Football Club being present 7 to observe and, if necessary, to make a contribution to 8 the proceedings. 9 CHAIRMAN: Mr Holmes? 10 MR HOLMES: The CEO objects to the application. Do you want to 11 hear the objection or do you want to go through the 12 parties to see the position? 13 CHAIRMAN: No, please proceed with your objection. 14 MR HOLMES: All right. The parties to an infraction notice, as 15 is clear in clause 13 of the AFL Code, are the AFL and the 16 person who is alleged to have committed the infraction. 17 The question of the club is in a different 18 position. The club is dealt with in clause 20(2) of the 19 Code, and the Code contemplates a different stage and a 20 different forum for the club to have the opportunity to 21 present its case in respect of the way it will be 22 consequentially involved following an adverse finding of 23 an infraction. 24 So if you go to clause 20(2) the matter - where 25 one or more players from a club has been notified the club 26 shall be subject to target testing.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Corporate Governance Failings and Performance Enhancing Drugs
    A tale of two football codes: Corporate governance failings and performance enhancing drugs Abstract In 2013, two well-known Australian sporting clubs – the Essendon Football Club (AFL) and the Cronulla Sharks Rugby League Club (NRL), were both investigated for performance enhancing drugs in their elite sports science programs. News of the initial investigations was met with disbelief by supporters, players, club administrators and the respective governing bodies – the AFL and the NRL. What followed was a period of intense and rigorous independent investigation by Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the AFL and the NRL. In August and December 2013 respectively, severe sanctions were handed down to the Essendon Football Club and the Cronulla Sharks. This paper provides an overview of the background to the saga in each of the respective clubs. It provides a time-line of the events before, during and after the initial investigation by the independent bodies. The paper concludes by linking the events at the respective clubs, to short-comings in a number of important corporate governance practices. Keywords: accountability, corporate governance, international sports associations, crisis, performance enhancing drugs, National Rugby League (NRL), Australian Football League (AFL) 1 A tale of two football codes: Corporate governance failings and performance enhancing drugs 1. Introduction Financial stakes involved in professional sport can create powerful incentives for the use of performance enhancing substances (Rapp 2009). Much empirical evidence supports a strong link between on-field results and club revenues (e.g. Morrow 1999; Barajas, Fernandez- Jardon et al. 2005; Pinnuck and Potter 2006; Bernile and Lyandres 2011; Bell, Brooks et al.
    [Show full text]
  • The Straight Dope: the Inside Story of Sports Biggest Drug Scandal Pdf
    FREE THE STRAIGHT DOPE: THE INSIDE STORY OF SPORTS BIGGEST DRUG SCANDAL PDF Chip Le Grand | 277 pages | 01 Nov 2016 | Melbourne University Press | 9780522870275 | English | Carlton, Australia The Straight Dope: Inside Story of Sport's Biggest Drug Scandal Chip Le Grand | eBay Try to Download directly 3. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. In Februarythen Labor ministers Jason Clare and Kate Lundy lined up at a press conference with the heads of the major sporting codes, and the Australian The Straight Dope: The Inside Story of Sports Biggest Drug Scandal Commission. They delivered a bombshell - announcing that multiple athletes across multiple codes were using illegal, performance enhancing drugs, and that organised crime was involved. Thirty-four current and former Essendon The Straight Dope: The Inside Story of Sports Biggest Drug Scandal are still waiting for their case to be re-heard by the World Anti-Doping Agency, after the AFL tribunal cleared them in March. All three are at play in his new book, The Straight Dope: the inside story of sport's biggest drug scandal. Audio Player failed to load. Play Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Download The Straight Dope: the inside story of sport's biggest drug scandal 3. It was dubbed 'the blackest day in Australian sport'. Two years on, that black day remains very grey. And in the interim, we've seen reputations trashed, and friendships destroyed.
    [Show full text]
  • Holmesglen Institutional Repository
    POSITORY (HIR) Duncan, S.K. (2017). Acting as one: understanding the actions of the banned Essendon 34. Sport in society, 21(3), 5-16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17430437.2017.1346625 CRICOS Provider Code: 00012G. RTO: 416 B2130518 Document Repository Cov Abstract: In January 2016, 34 past and present players from the Essendon Football Club were found guilty of being injected with banned peptide, Thymosin Beta 4, while participating in Essendon’s supplements program in 2011 and 2012. The release of the Court of Arbitration of Sport’s (CAS) summary of findings raised questions about the actions and intent of the participating players. In particular, the CAS highlighted concerns that the players showed a lack of due diligence and curiosity and acted in a secretive nature. This article seeks to provide a means of understanding the actions of the 34 Essendon players who willingly participated in Essendon Football Club’s supplements program by viewing them as active participants of a community. In doing so it becomes clear that the actions of the Essendon 34 were not unusual, but that a cultural shift within AFL clubs may be needed to ensure a crisis like it never occurs again. Key Words: Essendon, ASADA, AFL, Community, Culture Word Count (excluding references): 8,504 Disclosure statement: No financial interests or benefits have arisen from the direct applications of my research. Acting as one: Understanding the actions of the banned Essendon 34 The Essendon Football Club’s supplements program dominated the Australian Football League (AFL) for over three years. The Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) decision to find 34 Essendon players guilty of doping code violations, along with the release of their summary of findings, has raised questions about the actions and intent of the players.
    [Show full text]
  • CAS 2015/A/4059 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) V
    Tribunal Arbitral du Sport Court of Arbitration for Sport Arbitration CAS 2015/A/4059 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) v. Thomas Bellchambers et al., Australian Football League (AFL) & Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), award of 11 January 2016 Panel: The Hon. Michael Beloff QC (United Kingdom), President; Mr Romano Subiotto QC (United Kingdom); The Hon. James Spigelman AC QC (Australia) Australian Football Doping (Thymosin Beta-4) Distinction between presence and use of a prohibited substance cases Appeal and answer complete CAS de novo review CAS scope of review Return to training 1. There is a distinction to be made between two forms of anti-doping rule violation. The first form is the presence of a prohibited substance in an athlete’s sample; the second form is use by an athlete of a prohibited substance. Unlike the proof required to establish presence of a prohibited substance, use may also be established by other reliable means such as admissions by the athlete, witness statements, documentary evidence or other analytical information which does not otherwise satisfy all the requirements to establish presence. In a use of a prohibited substance case therefore, the absence of any adverse analytical finding does not prevent the adjudicating body from relying on any other reliable mean to establish the anti-doping rule violation. 2. The provision in Article R56 of the CAS Code purposively construed draws a distinction between reformulating an existing argument and advancing a new and distinctive argument. It is inherent in the forensic process that sometimes a party’s argument is developed and at other times discarded.
    [Show full text]
  • AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 Hawthorn Captain Luke Hodge Raises His Arms in Triumph After the Hawks’ Victory in the 2013 Grand Final
    AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE ANNUAL REPORT 2013 Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge raises his arms in triumph after the Hawks’ victory in the 2013 Grand Final. AFL ANNUAL REPORT 2013 CONTENTS 3 CONTENTS AUSTRALIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE 117TH ANNUAL REPORT 2013 2013 HIGHLIGHTS �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������4 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������11 CEO’S REPORT ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������21 BROADCASTING, SCHEDULING & INFRASTRUCTURE ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������33 FOOTBALL OPERATIONS ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������45 COMMERCIAL OPERATIONS ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������62
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Contents
    TABLE OF CONTENTS A. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 1 B. THE INFRACTION NOTICES SERVED ON THE PLAYERS ................................. 3 C. THE INFRACTION NOTICE SERVED ON STEPHEN DANK ................................ 5 C.1. Relevant clauses of the AFL Code ........................................................................ 5 C.2. Specific infractions alleged against Mr Dank ....................................................... 6 D. OUTLINE OF THE CASE OF THE ASADA CEO .................................................... 13 E. OUTLINE OF THE CASE FOR THE 32 PLAYERS ................................................. 14 F. OUTLINE OF THE CASE FOR THE 2 PLAYERS ................................................... 15 G. THE AFL ANTI-DOPING CODE ................................................................................. 16 G.1. Clause 1 - objectives of the 2010 Code ............................................................... 16 G.2. Clause 2 – definitions in the 2010 Code ............................................................. 16 G.3. Clause 3 - Application of the 2010 Code ............................................................ 17 G.4. Clause 5 – Prohibited Classes of Substances and Prohibited Methods ............... 17 G.5. Clause 6 – The WADA Prohibited List .............................................................. 18 G.6. Clause 11 – Anti Doping Rule Violations ..........................................................
    [Show full text]
  • We Never Want to Forget That We Are a Football Club
    Swinburne Leadership Institute http://swinburne.edu.au/leadership-institute Leadership in the AFL and the supplements scandal at Essendon Football Club Presentation notes by Karen Farquharson Associate Dean (Research) Faculty of Life and Social Sciences (Swinburne Leadership Dialogue 27 September 2013) Copyright owned by Swinburne University of Technology. Permission for limited re-use is provided under the terms of the Australian Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd) licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/au/ Introduction: the use of drugs at Essendon Football Club In February of this year it came to light that Essendon Football Club was being investigated by the Australian Crime Commission and by ASADA, The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, for a supplements program it had implemented the previous year. The supplements, intended to improve players' post match recovery, were either banned or not approved for human consumption. According to media reports, these banned substances were injected into players on numerous occasions. Today I will be discussing competence in leadership in Australian Football League (AFL) football clubs. Based on research I am doing with Tim Marjoribanks, I will put forward a framework for understanding how club leaders come to be seen as competent. I will argue that competence is the outcome of within-club leadership contests around knowledge and power in a context of increasing professionalisation and regulation. I will also argue that in AFL football, having football experience is an important aspect of competence. After I present the framework I will use it to try to understand how Essendon, an old, successful and well- regarded club, became entangled in controversy over its supplements program.
    [Show full text]
  • Afl Anti-Doping Tribunal Friday, 19 December 2014 Day Three (Transcript-In-Confidence) - - - -
    AFL ANTI-DOPING TRIBUNAL FRIDAY, 19 DECEMBER 2014 DAY THREE (TRANSCRIPT-IN-CONFIDENCE) - - - - - CHAIRMAN: MR DAVID JONES MR JOHN NIXON MR WAYNE HENWOOD COUNSEL ASSISTING: MR JUSTIN HOOPER - - - - - MR J. GLEESON QC with MS R. ENBOM appeared on behalf of AFL. MR M. HOLMES QC with MR P. KNOWLES appeared on behalf of the CEO of ASADA. MR D. GRACE QC with MR B. IHLE appeared on behalf of 32 players. MR N. CLELLAND QC with MR S. NORTON appeared on behalf of Mr and Mr - - - - - 1 CHAIRMAN: Good morning. We are ready to proceed. Could 2 I just indicate that Mr Abrahams asked Mr Hooper whether 3 he could have a copy of the transcript in relation to the 4 time that he was here for the purposes of his application. 5 My initial reaction was to think, "Oh, that's probably all 6 right." But, having gone through it, I have sort of 7 thought differently about that in terms of not so 8 much - I'm not in any way reflecting anything on 9 Mr Abrahams, but I'm just a bit concerned about where the 10 transcript gets to beyond there, bearing in mind what we 11 continue to read in the press. So what I thought was, if 12 there was agreement from the Bar table, that perhaps we 13 could give him a transcript of the ruling and I think 14 that's quite - there's nothing in that. 15 MR GRACE: We agree. 16 MR HOLMES: We agree also. 17 CHAIRMAN: So we will let him have the transcript of the 18 ruling, but otherwise we won't make it available.
    [Show full text]