Things continue to get worse down South!!!
Hird told ASADA Demetriou tipped off Bombers
DateJuly 25, 2013 - 1:45PM
Caroline Wilson
Chief Football Writer for The Age
Demetriou quizzed over Essendon 'tip off'
AFL boss confirms he spoke to Essendon's David Evans before the club reported fears about its supplements program, but denies any wrongdoing. Essendon coach James Hird has been revealed as the key witness who claimed that AFL boss Andrew Demetriou had spoken with Bombers chairman David Evans on the eve of the club's decision to self-report about his players' substance use.
Hird is understood to have told the ASADA-AFL investigation that Demetriou called Evans at his home on February 4 during an emergency meeting involving Evans, Hird, former CEO Ian Robson, club doctor Bruce Reid and football boss Danny Corcoran.
The Hird evidence, later corroborated by Corcoran, appears to place the Bombers coach at odds with his chairman, who has denied claims he was tipped off by Demetriou. Ian Robson has backed Evans' version of events.
Essendon coach James Hird.
Photo: Michael Dodge
It has also firmly placed the Hird camp at odds with Demetriou, who has repeatedly denied confirming to Evans that Essendon had an issue with potentially banned substances. Hird's evidence reportedly suggests Demetriou and Evans discussed the club's use of potentially banned substances.
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Hird said at training on Thursday: "I was at David's house that night. Myself, Bruce (Reid), Danny (Corcoran), Ian Robson and David were all there and Andrew made a call at some stage in that meeting and the contents of that call were discussed.
"I've told the truth to ASADA and I know other people have as well. That will come out over time."
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou.
Photo: Pat Scala
The AFL chief told 3AW's Neil Mitchell early on Thursday he had returned a call from Evans at about 9 pm but could not have told the Bombers' chairman of an Essendon issue because he had no definitive knowledge of the club's links with dubious drugs.
Demetriou also told Mitchell he had been briefed the previous week by the Australian Crime Commission but that the ACC had refused to detail which AFL clubs faced potential allegations of its players using illicit or banned performance-enhancing substances.
Demetriou said he was, at any rate, legally bound not to disclose information passed on by the ACC. He said the conversation with Evans was one of several during that day which also saw a number of media enquiries forwarded to the club and the AFL seeking clarity on alleged use by Essendon players of banned drugs.
Fairfax Media questioned Essendon that day and the club threatened legal action if the allegations were published in The Age. The allegations were vehemently denied by the club.
It is understood the Demetriou-Evans conversation worried Evans because Demetriou would not directly answer his questions about Essendon nor would he elaborate on what, if anything, he knew or suspected.
On February 5, the club reported itself to the AFL and ASADA. Hird, in a press conference, said he was shocked by the situation Essendon found itself in and said he took full responsibility for the football department's activities.
This is despite the fact he was warned by the AFL in a meeting towards the end of the 2011 season to avoid introducing peptides to his playing group. One month after that warning, Hird's football department employed biochemist Stephen Dank, who introduced an intensive supplements program involving multiple injections administered to players at the club and off-site, as well as intravenous off-site drug treatments.
Read more:
http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/hird-told-asada-demetriou-tipped-off-bombers-20130725-2qkt2.html#ixzz2a1y9BKbX
