http://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/ro...o-end-his-career/story-fndv38w0-1227268477901
Roosters Martin Kennedy facing two-year ban for doping offences that is likely to end his career
9 HOURS AGO MARCH 19, 2015 12:00AM
THE Roosters’ Martin Kennedy faces a two-year ban that is likely to end his career after being issued with an ASADA infraction notice for doping offences.
Kennedy has been stood down indefinitely from the Roosters and will face a tribunal convened by the NRL at a date to be decided on Thursday.
The prop was originally issued with the notice in late 2013, while he was a Brisbane Broncos player, but repeatedly lied when asked if he had been charged under the ASADA code.
Kennedy has denied the existence of the show cause notice or that he was the subject of an investigation.
The evidence against former Raiders star Sandor Earl emerged from the same Customs and police investigation that implicated Kennedy.
Kennedy did not make the Roosters aware of the charges when he returned to the club. Source: News Limited
Kennedy has spent 14 months fighting the legality of the notice in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal but late last week the appeal was rejected.
Australian Customs officials found incriminating phone messages on former junior teammate Ben Darcy’s phone, which revealed both Kennedy and former Raiders star Sandor Earl had been supplied with illicit substances. The phone was intercepted by Customs when Darcy returned from Thailand to Australia.
Earl is also fighting the legality of the charge in the AAT. He had also argued that phone messages were illegally intercepted but the AAT refuted the argument and declared the notice to be admissible.
Kennedy had not told Roosters coach Trent Robinson of the impending charges against him when he directly approached the Roosters mentor to return to the club late last year.
Robinson is said to be furious Kennedy did not inform him of the infraction notice but, given the notice had been reported in The Daily Telegraph months earlier, it remains a mystery why Robinson did not quiz Kennedy about it.
When The Daily Telegraph reported his pending charge in December 2013, Kennedy threatened to sue the newspaper in late 2014. He vehemently denied ever being charged or issued with a show cause notice.
Kennedy was interviewed by ASADA in October 2013 and refused to answer any questions during a lengthy interview. When he was shown the incriminating text messages, Kennedy engaged lawyers who delayed the NRL’s tribunal process with their appeal to the AAT.
The evidence against Kennedy is similar to the case against Sandor Earl who is still waiting to have his case heard in the NRL Tribunal. An automatic two year ban applies under the ASADA code adopted by the NRL if Kennedy is found guilty.
