Turning Judas on teammates only way to mitigate bans
Date
March 17, 2013
Roy Masters
Rugby League Columnist
NRL and AFL players guilty of doping infractions have almost no chance of escaping without sanction, and will be required to inform on a teammate or a member of a club's football department to receive a reduced penalty.
In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media, Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority chief executive Aurora Andruska also exploded some of the myths around the drugs crisis involving NRL and AFL clubs. There are three defences against a doping charge: "A doctor stuck a needle in me while I was having an operation", "I was assured the product I was taking was not on the banned list" and the "substantial assistance" option.
"The only time a zero sanction has been given was when the athlete has been unconscious during surgery by a doctor," Andruska said. "That is a very high bar.
"To get a zero sanction on the second defence, the bar is also very high. In my period at ASADA, I am yet to see that defence sustained."
This defence would require the athlete proving he had asked multiple questions of doctors, trainers and the ASADA hotline before taking the substance. Media reports cite it as a potential get out of jail card but, given the regular injections taken by the NRL and AFL players who have relied on the word of a sports scientist, it seems an impossible defence.
Andruska said the "substantial assistance" option, which can reduce a penalty by 75 per cent, cutting a two-year ban to six months, must result in a doping violation against someone else. "It's not a case of the athlete saying, 'Yes, I did the wrong thing'," Andruska said. "He has to give information on others that means other charges coming to light."
Asked if this meant, say, a winger volunteering, "I took a peptide and so did my centre teammate," Andruska gave a firm "Yes".
Up to 150 players have been reported as involved but it's probably closer to 40 NRL players, together with football staff members, embroiled in the investigation. Andruska implied ASADA's recommendations to the NRL Doping Panel on sanctions could vary.
"There are a vast range of individuals caught up in this. There are young, indigenous players with literacy problems, " she said in reference to the confronting scientific language of the ASADA banned list.
"There are also the old campaigners who have had [doping] education, education, education. This is not a case of one size fits all."
Andruska also dismissed media reports that the drugs allegedly taken by Sharks players were not on the banned list. "The substances were prohibited in 2011," she said in reference to the period sports scientist Stephen Dank allegedly injected players with peptides.
There appears to be confusion between a drug for which there is no known test and its inclusion on the banned list. Growth hormone- releasing peptides were banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2004 but one, GHRP-6, was not detectable by tests in 2011 when it was allegedly used by Sharks players.
Even now, Andruska said, "It can only be detectable within an hour of use. It can be applied in cream form as well. We froze urine samples but without a test available, it was up to our intelligence to gather the information."
One-third of sanctions now come from investigation, rather than testing. "Testing will pick up the dopey doper who takes cannabis or steroids but some of the things people were using had not been tested for human use," Andruska said, a reference to the equine substance mentioned in the Australian Crime Commission report. "Not even tested on humans!
"By working with the ACC, we got ahead of the curve", she said in reference to the lag between the chemists and the testers.
Andruska revealed ASADA began gathering information 18 months ago, and shared it with the ACC a year ago.
"The ACC became interested in crime's links with sport, and we shared information, which was a very fruitful exercise," she said.
Intelligence comes from a variety of sources, including tips by former coaches and teammates.
"The disgruntled girlfriend rings in, or we overhear a conversation that this particular peptide is OK, even Google searches were a very revealing link to motorcycle gangs," Andruska said. "We had solid, robust information. It would have taken us years without the powers of the ACC. They get information out of people quickly.
"We can only use this information as a pointer but these pointers matched up with our own sourced information. I think we really helped them."
ASADA still require the co-operation of the NRL and AFL to conclude the investigation.
Contrary to reports claiming ASADA will rely on a bill before parliament to trap more NRL and AFL players, the existing players' contracts and the codes' agreement with ASADA make co-operation mandatory. "We have been able to secure evidence from the clubs, and we are working with the NRL extremely well," Andruska said.
Furthermore, the additional investigators required should not imply more digging is needed. Asked whether, in ASADA's terms, investigator equalled interviewer, Andruska said, "Yes."
"We have been given additional resources, plus we have an additional 10 investigators on standby the minute we need them."
ASADA's investigation could be resolved more quickly than first feared. "There is nothing in the way of resources slowing down the investigation," Andruska said. "It is proceeding as timely as possible. I have everything I need."
