We have seen the images of the grim-faced politicians and sports officials announcing the Australian Crime Commission investigation into the distribution and use of performance enhancing substances in Australian sport, and the growing anti-ageing and vanity industries. Mostly, they have been used to ridicule and condemn. To claim the problem was not as substantial as we had been warned, or to decry ASADA's supposedly bungled and snail-paced investigation. Yet, for those willing to wait for the evidence to emerge, the dour expressions suddenly seem apt, and the concerns that prompted them grave.
Adding to a steadily accumulating body of evidence, Fairfax Media and the ABC's Four Corners reported the allegations of Shane Charter, a convicted drug trafficker who gave an insight into both the importation, and the use, of performance enhancing drugs. Inevitably, the worth of Charter's evidence was questioned. Although perhaps not by those investigators who adhere to the adage "It takes a thief to catch a thief".
Now, most disturbingly, News Ltd quotes an independent report commissioned by Cronulla. One which raises the possibility of a "causal link" between the use of performance enhancing substances, Jon Mannah, and the Hodgkin's lymphoma that killed him. The report does not say that Mannah took peptides, but was at the Sharks when the supplements program was implemented.
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These media reports are at the extreme ends of the initial ASC investigation and the subsequent ASADA probe.
Charter's allegations emphasise the criminal links to those importing and distributing both legal and illegal substances. A burgeoning trade that prompted the initial interest of the ASC which, naturally, is more interested in following the trail to big-time importers than identifying which prop or half-back flanker was at the end of the chain.
The reported link between Mannah's possible use of peptides that could promote the growth of cells, and the acceleration of his cancer, represents the most grave and unconscionable consequence of administering untested, unauthorised and potentially harmful substances to athletes. The potential outcome often ignored when the use of performance enhancing substances is considered only through the win-loss prism of professional sport. One that, to give the phrase the power denied by those inconvenienced by the ASADA investigation, would indeed make these the "blackest day(s) in Australian sport".
Of course, we should hasten slowly. We should demonstrate the patience lacking in those who continue to ridicule both the ASADA investigation, and the process, because it has cast a cloud over their codes. Never mind that this cloud was created by those in the codes whose grand ambitions and failed protocols - at the very least - came at the expense of player welfare.
The same verbose media voices pilloried ASADA for cancelling interviews with Cronulla players last week, citing it as another example of the agencies incompetence. Yet, the News Ltd. report suggests this was done, sensibly, to digest the disturbing findings of the Sharks' report.
New Ltd. quotes Cronulla's internal report. That is was compiled by former ASADA deputy chairwoman Tricia Kavanagh will, no doubt, prompt claims it is intended to back ASADA's agenda. But the reference to Mannah is chilling.
"A brief review of available published medical literature suggests an identified causal link between the use of substances such as CJC-1295 and GHRP-6 and the acceleration of the condition of disease Hodgkin's lymphoma. Without knowing anything further about Mannah's exact medical history and without seeking expert opinion from an appropriately qualified oncologist it is difficult to take this issue further. The issue of Mannah has the potential to be as serious as matters could get."
Reflexively, fans egged on by self-interested denialists howl at the moon. The empowerment of social media provides a forum for those who do not understand the process of investigation undertaken by ASADA, WADA and others, or the information seen by the media. Or who are simply unwilling to open their eyes.
Meanwhile, on Anzac Day, Essendon played wonderfully before 93,000 people at the MCG to beat Collingwood. The same day, it had been reported the Bombers had confirmed six players had been administered a substance not cleared for human use. One, thus, banned under the WADA drug code.
The manner in which Essendon performed under such intense scrutiny is praiseworthy. Less so the officials who sought to push the boundaries of performance without enforcing the necessary checks and balances required to implement their program.
In football terms, the consequences could be grim at any club found to have let their players down. Suspensions, heavy fines, and perhaps loss of premiership points. But, if it is proven that the race to improve football performance has imperiled human life, then real-world justice will be imposed.
