ASADA seeks a meeting with Cronulla players over supplements scandal
The Australian
August 15, 2014 12:00AM
Brent Read
Senior Sports Writer
CRONULLA players at the centre of the ongoing investigation into supplement use at the club may be about to learn their fate as the Australian Sports Anti-*Doping Agency seeks a meeting next week to discuss the next step in what has become a long and painstaking process.
Sources confirmed to the The Australian that after nearly 12 months of no contact between the parties, talks had resumed this week as ASADA and the NRL look to bring the matter to a close.
It is understood ASADA has sought a meeting for next week with the players to outline their next move, which suggests either they are about to drop the case or issue show cause notices against those who took part in the club’s supplement program in 2011.
The Australian attempted to contact representatives of the players yesterday but they failed to return calls. The NRL also declined to comment.
ASADA last night denied calling a meeting with NRL players. It is understood the latest contact was with only selected Sharks players and has not involved all the players implicated in the *investigation.
However, if show-cause notices are issued as they were in the Essendon case in the AFL, the players will have 10 days to argue why they should not be issued with infraction notices.
Once the infraction notices are issued, players will face bans of up to two years, although it is believed they could receive discounts of up to 75 per cent for providing substantial assistance to the investigation. That could mean the players receiving suspensions of six months, the vast majority of which would be served over the off-season.
Rumours of impending action against Sharks players have been swirling for months, yet ASADA's decision to contact those involved appears to be concrete evidence the case may be about to take a seismic leap forward.
The Sharks have already suffered immeasurable damage as a result of the investigation. Financially, the club has taken a hit through lost sponsorship and legal fees, with costs spiralling beyond the million-dollar mark.
Coach Shane Flanagan also became a casualty when he was given a nine-month suspension from the NRL over governance issues during the 11-week period when Steve Dank was at the club.
Flanagan is due to meet the NRL next week ahead of his return to coaching duties with the club next month. When he returns, he could do so to a skeleton squad should ASADA decide to sanction players, as it has in the case of Essendon.
The Bombers are currently engaged in a court battle with ASADA as they argue over the legality of the investigation into the club and its players. The Sharks have ruled out taking court action should ASADA’s findings go against the club.
Sharks chief executive Steve Noyce said he was unable to comment on the ongoing investi*gation and whether ASADA had contacted player representatives.
“It's a confidential matter between the players and the solicitors,” Noyce said.
“There is requirement for them to engage with us.”
However, Noyce said everyone at the club would be happy to see the investigation come to a close, given the matter had been ongoing since February last year, when the NRL was among the sports on stage at the press conference to announce what has been dubbed “the blackest day in Australian sport”.
“I think everyone from the time it happened has been waiting for it to come to a close,” Noyce said. “There's been lots of things written … that it's going to come to a close. Obviously the Essendon matter is in the courts this week. Whether that brings it quicker or slower I am not sure.
“We’ll keep working our way through all the other challenges we have from time to time with players being crook and injured.”
The Sharks have endured a woeful season, with injury decimating the squad. Backrower Luke Lewis is understood to have undergone knee surgery yesterday, which ruled him out of the rest of the NRL season.
There was some good news for the club yesterday, when it announced Canterbury back Mitch Brown would return next season on a two-year deal.
