No Oppo Supporters ASAGA - The Final Chapter - Appeal Dismissed (Page 12) - The End

[DERO]

Of course the background being that he organised the Australian rebel cricket tour to South Africa in 1985.

He's an overtly political animal with fairly old fashioned and curmudgeonly views on a lot of things. In some ways, a nasty, old-style party hack type. It colours his views and utterances on many, many things, this saga being just one among that list.

Well there you go... Successfully stuffing Australian cricket for many years. I did not know that either.

I think he orchestrated the Worksafe investigation of the club as well which resulted in more fines for the club. Something he published or someone he contacted. It is all a bit blurry now.

Yeah, I already wasn't much of a fan but did not realise he was responsible for the Rebel tour as well! That is some resume.

 

[doug85]

Bruce!

He should probably stick to what he knows, which is writing Apartheid-apologist trash.

What! He’s an apartheid apologist?

edit: covered in the above conversation

 

[yaco55]

Some are being selective and precious when some are trying to uncover the truth - It's sad.

 

[VelvetSledge]

As far as I can recall, the main issues here are related to ASADA tampering with evidence, and listing Thymosin as TB4.

TB4 is banned, but was never shown on any invoice at all. Only Thymosin, a totally different substance, was

 

[DERO]

Some are being selective and precious when some are trying to uncover the truth - It's sad.

So you know the truth do you Yaco?

 

[boncer34]

Hey Dero tell Bruce I said hi. That'll set him off.

I'm an AFL plant you see.

 

[2one2]

I have to say, I was shocked to hear that an organisation under the WADA banner was engaging in something that looks like entrapment or just pure evidence cooking.

I've never seen it from a prosecutorial/police agency which believes the ends justify the means.

It's just anothe corrupt bureaucracy with a primary interest in ensuring it's own existence.

It's hardly useful, catches no one and seems to be selective in the application of the rules. The Jamacians dont get tested out of comp but the Russians are engaged in systematic doping because Netflix (despite the US regularly beating the doped up commies because freedom).

All of this because the government wants to host the Olympics every 50 years.

I agree it was the same with me. My disappointment oscillates between the parties that did misreport information (ie. Thymosin = TB4) and our Denis Denuto legal team who had access to all the same original documents and didn't even challenge this misrepresentation

 

[BrunoV]

 

[quotemokc]

It won't happen but if we are ever found innocent then the entire AFL post 2012 should be rendered null and void.

 

[SydneyBomber]

Feels REALLY dirty agreeing with absolute pond scum like Bolt and Alan Jones, but sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my 'friend' i guess...

 

[BrunoV]

Feels REALLY dirty agreeing with absolute pond scum like Bolt and Alan Jones, but sometimes the enemy of my enemy is my 'friend' i guess...

The simplest approach is to treat everyone on the MSM with the equal contempt they deserve.

It's a complete waste of time but sometime you gotta keep in touch.

 

[JayJ20]

It's all a bit suss tbh.

I don't remember them ever being able to link Thymosin Beta 4 to Essendon players.

It wouldn't hurt looking into it, but we've all moved on.

 

[yaco55]

So you know the truth do you Yaco?

I let others seek the truth while not being fussed about their background.

 

[DERO]

I let others seek the truth while not being fussed about their background.

He is little more than an obsessed kook.

 

[Doss]

I let others seek the truth while not being fussed about their background.

Since this seems to have been triggered when I started spouting off about Francis' background...

If you stick your head in the sand about someone's background, especially when it seems to be borne of a world view which colours and drives a lot of what someone does and says, you're doing yourself a disservice.

Yes, that doesn't mean you have to ignore everything they say if it's going against the grain, but if you honestly reckon Francis' interest in this whole thing isn't driven in large part because he'd just love to push that barrow about that nasty centre-left government of the day stringing Essendon up on the meathooks and ignoring a lot of the other factors at play...

 

[yaco55]

Since this seems to have been triggered when I started spouting off about Francis' background...

If you stick your head in the sand about someone's background, especially when it seems to be borne of a world view which colours and drives a lot of what someone does and says, you're doing yourself a disservice.

Yes, that doesn't mean you have to ignore everything they say if it's going against the grain, but if you honestly reckon Francis' interest in this whole thing isn't driven in large part because he'd just love to push that barrow about that nasty centre-left government of the day stringing Essendon up on the meathooks and ignoring a lot of the other factors at play...

Except it was both Government's who unduly interfered in the process - hence why there was not a Senate Enquiry because both sides have skeletons in the closet - After all both major parties enjoy calling Senate enquiries if it will damage the other party - So have no idea why you think Bruce is interested in damaging the nasty centre-left Government - Gotta say you've gone off on a tangent.

 

[bomberman500]

Herald Sun article about it for anyone that has a subscription

 

[VelvetSledge]

I don’t expect anything will come of this, but good on Bruce for fighting the fight all these years

 

[yodellinhank]

I don’t expect anything will come of this, but good on Bruce for fighting the fight all these years

Hopefully some campaigner can clear their names one day.

 

[rumply]

Justice For The 34

Justice For The 34. 3,352 likes. Inquiry into ethics/practices of ASADA AFL WADA anti-doping case against the 34 EFC players

www.facebook.com

Update on Mr Bruce Francis's FOI appeal at the Brisbane Administration Appeals Tribunal.

This AAT Hearing has now moved into a final written submissions stage.

The Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) defence team comprised of 3 lawyers from SIA (formerly ASADA) and another 3 from the Attorney General’s (AG) Dept. Mr Francis's witnesses were not called after the SIA Lawyer, who had access to the affidavits, successfully claimed that there was nothing relevant in them that hadn’t already been considered.

Following final submissions, the President will consider his decision. Given his experience with other FOI requests, Mr Francis believes this could take 6 months.
For information, Mr Francis is a former Test cricketer who has been campaigning for the Essendon players to be exonerated.
The Guardian article (below) explains the difficulty in getting access to any information via FOI requests.
Justice for the 34 renews its call for an Independent inquiry into anti-doping with wide ranging terms of reference which allow all sporting bodies, all athletes, and all interested parties to make representations.
This is in the national interest, and it will help all athletes, not just the Essendon 34.

 

[yodellinhank]

Without knowing too much about this request, I'd have to think it would be surprising if it got up. Much of the information would be considered sensitive medical information and probably easily identifiable. The weight of "it may help future athletes" doesn't really stack up.

 

[Mr Mojo Risin]

I see Demetriou is executing a classic tactic of misdirection away from his corrupt dealings and findings as director of Crown by exposing details of the Carlton salary cap and Essendon drug scandals. Forget whether either party was guilty or not, remind me why I should trust what he says?

 

[TheGreatBarryB]

I see Demetriou is executing a classic tactic of misdirection away from his corrupt dealings and findings as director of Crown by exposing details of the Carlton salary cap and Essendon drug scandals. Forget whether either party was guilty or not, remind me why I should trust what he says?

Can someone copy and paste the Herald Sun article?

 

[I Remember Bluey]

For those who like a long read.

https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/sacked-podcast-former-afl-ceo-andrew-demetriou-opens-up-on-the-essendon-drugs-saga/news-story/b33227ef4383bad3bcbd6be4d00fa96a

Andrew Demetriou has been silent on the Essendon drugs saga for nearly a decade. Now he lifts the lid on what really happened and answers all the remaining questions.

Former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says Jobe Watson deserved to retain the 2012 Brownlow Medal stripped from him for his role in the damaging Essendon drugs saga.
And the man who led the AFL’s response to the injections regime believes the Essendon 34 were “hard done by” to be suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being found not guilty by Australia’s anti-doping body.

Finally breaking a near-decade of silence in an exclusive interview for the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast, Demetriou says he has no regrets about the AFL pursuing Essendon for their conduct.

He denied he ever tipped off Essendon chairman David Evans about an impending Australian Crime Commission report, saying he had no knowledge of what was about to be dubbed “the darkest day in Australian sport”.

Demetriou says sporting codes were used as “political pawns” by the Australian government after an investigation it claimed proved links between organised crime and performance-enhancing drugs in sports.

Watson handed back the 2012 Brownlow Medal in November 2016 ahead of the league’s inevitable decision to strip it because he was serving a 12-month ban for taking a banned peptide.


The AFL Commission stated: “The commission ruled today that Jobe Watson was not eligible for the 2012 Brownlow Medal.”

Demetriou told Sacked that while he left the AFL in 2014 he would have done everything in his power for Watson to retain the award.

“I think he’s been one of the great contributors of the game. The Watson family has been period,” Demetriou said.

“I have got a lot of time for Tim and Jobe. He carried himself superbly well through that whole predicament.

“I was terribly sad to see him lose the Brownlow. And you know, I wasn’t there when the decision was taken.

“But I would have fought very hard for him not to lose the Brownlow.

“You draw a long bow to say that his whole season was impacted by what may or may not have been. I wasn’t privy to those conversations. I haven’t got the information. But you can’t help but feel for Jobe Watson.”

Former president Paul Little still holds out hope Watson might have his 2012 Brownlow Medal reinstated after it was subsequently awarded to Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell.

The “Essendon 34” were not suspended by an AFL anti-doping tribunal after being issued with show-cause notices, but after a Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal were shocked to be suspended in January 2016.

Demetriou believes the players should not have been suspended on appeal given the exhaustive investigation had not found them guilty.

“I felt terribly for the players,” he said.

“I thought they went through a proper process with the AFL tribunal. And the club had been dealt with by the Commission. The people on the tribunal are honourable people, they are ex or current judges.

“There is no bias. And then after a period of time to be appealed by CASA who let a 15-year-old perform at the Winter Olympics is just nonsense. I felt and I still feel they have all been hard done by.”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport allowed Russian Kamila Valieva to compete in the Winter Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance, ruling a suspension could cause her “irreparable harm”.

Watson said recently he still deserved to retain that medal, stating: “If I felt I had cheated, then I wouldn’t have accepted the medal in the first place.”

INSIDE THE AFL DURING FOOTY’S BIGGEST SCANDAL

It was footy’s biggest scandal and the tumultuous nature of the Essendon sports supplements program of 2012 left a damage toll almost unprecedented in the game.

The pain of the scandal pushed one-time Bombers coach James Hird to breaking point — he overdosed on sleeping pills and his depression almost crippled him.

Essendon president of the time David Evans collapsed in the rooms following a Bombers game and suffered a breakdown that saw him relinquish the role.

Mark Thompson descended into a dark spiral in the years following, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and using drugs to dull his pain.

The Essendon 34, the players who were banned for a year from the game in 2016, have also had their challenges in the years since.

But it wasn’t just those from within the club who faced some tough times during what turned out to be a protracted saga.

Speaking at length for the first time about that difficult period, then AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast about death threats he received as a troubling by-product of a saga that had precious little middle ground.

“The Essendon saga was volatile and you know (I got) death threats and all that sort of stuff,” Demetriou said.


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Former AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou says Jobe Watson deserved to retain the 2012 Brownlow Medal stripped from him for his role in the damaging Essendon drugs saga.
And the man who led the AFL’s response to the injections regime believes the Essendon 34 were “hard done by” to be suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after being found not guilty by Australia’s anti-doping body.

Finally breaking a near-decade of silence in an exclusive interview for the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast, Demetriou says he has no regrets about the AFL pursuing Essendon for their conduct.
He denied he ever tipped off Essendon chairman David Evans about an impending Australian Crime Commission report, saying he had no knowledge of what was about to be dubbed “the darkest day in Australian sport”.

Demetriou says sporting codes were used as “political pawns” by the Australian government after an investigation it claimed proved links between organised crime and performance-enhancing drugs in sports.
Watson handed back the 2012 Brownlow Medal in November 2016 ahead of the league’s inevitable decision to strip it because he was serving a 12-month ban for taking a banned peptide.

Jobe Watson at the 2012 Brownlow Medal. Picture: AAP Images
The AFL Commission stated: “The commission ruled today that Jobe Watson was not eligible for the 2012 Brownlow Medal.”
Demetriou told Sacked that while he left the AFL in 2014 he would have done everything in his power for Watson to retain the award.
“I think he’s been one of the great contributors of the game. The Watson family has been period,” Demetriou said.

“I have got a lot of time for Tim and Jobe. He carried himself superbly well through that whole predicament.
“I was terribly sad to see him lose the Brownlow. And you know, I wasn’t there when the decision was taken.
“But I would have fought very hard for him not to lose the Brownlow.
“You draw a long bow to say that his whole season was impacted by what may or may not have been. I wasn’t privy to those conversations. I haven’t got the information. But you can’t help but feel for Jobe Watson.”
Former president Paul Little still holds out hope Watson might have his 2012 Brownlow Medal reinstated after it was subsequently awarded to Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell.

​

The “Essendon 34” were not suspended by an AFL anti-doping tribunal after being issued with show-cause notices, but after a Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal were shocked to be suspended in January 2016.
Demetriou believes the players should not have been suspended on appeal given the exhaustive investigation had not found them guilty.
“I felt terribly for the players,” he said.

“I thought they went through a proper process with the AFL tribunal. And the club had been dealt with by the Commission. The people on the tribunal are honourable people, they are ex or current judges.
“There is no bias. And then after a period of time to be appealed by CASA who let a 15-year-old perform at the Winter Olympics is just nonsense. I felt and I still feel they have all been hard done by.”

The Court of Arbitration for Sport allowed Russian Kamila Valieva to compete in the Winter Olympics despite testing positive for a banned substance, ruling a suspension could cause her “irreparable harm”.
Watson said recently he still deserved to retain that medal, stating: “If I felt I had cheated, then I wouldn’t have accepted the medal in the first place.”

Jobe Watson was stripped of his Brownlow Medal after the Essendon drugs saga.

INSIDE THE AFL DURING FOOTY’S BIGGEST SCANDAL
It was footy’s biggest scandal and the tumultuous nature of the Essendon sports supplements program of 2012 left a damage toll almost unprecedented in the game.
The pain of the scandal pushed one-time Bombers coach James Hird to breaking point — he overdosed on sleeping pills and his depression almost crippled him.
Essendon president of the time David Evans collapsed in the rooms following a Bombers game and suffered a breakdown that saw him relinquish the role.
Mark Thompson descended into a dark spiral in the years following, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and using drugs to dull his pain.
The Essendon 34, the players who were banned for a year from the game in 2016, have also had their challenges in the years since.

But it wasn’t just those from within the club who faced some tough times during what turned out to be a protracted saga.
Speaking at length for the first time about that difficult period, then AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has told the Herald Sun’s Sacked podcast about death threats he received as a troubling by-product of a saga that had precious little middle ground.
“The Essendon saga was volatile and you know (I got) death threats and all that sort of stuff,” Demetriou said.

Andrew Demetriou addresses the media during the supplements saga. Picture: AAP Images
“But whether they (the death threats) were meaningful or not, who knows?
“I got text messages, anonymous text messages; I got phone calls, people hanging up.”
He doesn’t reveal this for any reason other than to highlight it was a tough time for all, saying Victoria Police was called in to look into the threats and extra security was detailed.

“Yeah, we did all that … you have to (when) you have a young family,” he said in regard to reporting the threats to the authorities.
“It has a significant impact on (your) family.”

For all the victims, Demetriou makes it clear the greatest travesty was that the chief architect of the program, Stephen Dank, effectively went unpunished.
“I still think it is incongruous that Stephen Dank has never been held to account at any level,” he said.

“The hurt he inflicted upon players, coaches, people, administrators, the board, supporters … it’s reprehensible.
“He’s never been charged with anything. It’s taken the Essendon Football Club a long time to recover. I hope they are on the right track (now), nothing would be more satisfying than to see a successful Essendon club.”

WHAT ARE PEPTIDES?

Demetriou had become concerned about the growing influence of sports science in AFL in the years leading up to the scandal.

“We didn’t know. You hear things about all clubs and you ask questions, and sometimes you get responses and sometimes responses aren’t truthful,” he said.

“But the level of what was going on at Essendon just shocked us. You know, once we started to get a clear picture of what was going on, there was just nothing nice about it.

“I can’t say anything other than it just disgusted a lot of people.”

Demetriou said the first time he had heard the word “Peptides” in regard to Essendon was “shortly before” former Bomber Kyle Reimers claims on The Footy Show that the supplements used in the program in 2012 were “right on the edge”.

Asked what his response was, Demetriou said: “I am asking questions, what are peptides?”

Then came the dramatic fallout of February 5, 2013 when Essendon “self-reported” to the AFL and ASADA, asking the league to investigate concerns over the use of supplements during the 2012 season.

At the press conference that followed, Hird said: “I’m very disappointed, shocked is probably the best word.

“As a coach I take full responsibility for what happens in our footy department.

“If there have been goings on within our football department that are not right we want to know.”

It would set in place a period that almost tore the heart out of the game, culminating in the January 2016 moment when the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal and handed down a guilty verdict for the 34 Essendon players, banning them for 12 months.

WE WERE HOODWINKED BY THE GOVERNMENT

In the immediate aftermath of the Essendon scandal breaking, Demetriou was asked to fly to Canberra for a briefing on the Australian Crime Commission’s Project Aperio which identified widespread use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs in professional sport and highlighted links to organised crime.

Nine years on, Demetriou maintains the AFL and other sporting codes — who were thrust into the press conference with only a moment’s warning — had been used as “political pawns”.

“Looking back, I think we were hoodwinked by the Government,” he told Sacked.

“We all got called to a briefing (about the link between performance-enhancing drugs and underworld figures) … one minute we are having a briefing and the next minute we’re being hauled before a press conference.

“I mean if you roll the tape back, what’s come of it all? Who did they charge? Who were the underworld criminals? Who were those people?

“To this day, I’m convinced we were used as political pawns for some political gain.

“To this day, I don’t even know whether the two (peptides and underworld figures) are connected.

“I don’t even know whether that darkest day in sport is connected to the Essendon saga.

“There is no evidence there is, not that I know of, unless they can produce something.”

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Demetriou is happy to set the record straight for what he hopes will be the last time on a number of allegations aimed at the AFL over its handling of the Essendon investigation.

He reiterated it was impossible for him to have tipped off Evans and Essendon about a Crime Commission briefing on the night before the Bombers self-reported.

“It never happened because I wasn’t privy to the information,” Demetriou said. “We weren’t given the information at the briefing we had.

“So I couldn’t have told them. I must have told Mark (Robinson) about 56 times and he’s never believed me.

“So it was impossible to tell David Evans something that I wasn’t privy to because I didn’t have the information.”

He added: “In fairness to the Essendon Football Club, they were collaborating with the investigation … saying we had made some mistakes and needed to deal with whatever is coming our way.

“Then (they) went through a phase of ‘We will take on City Hall’.”

But Demetriou could not be more disappointed with the way it all worked out for the Essendon players who were ultimately banned for 12 months by the Court of Arbitration of Sport.

“The AFL was helpless in the end,” he said.

“Once it was taken out of our hands, there was no looking back. But it doesn’t mean I think they were right.”

Hird and Demetriou were cast on different sides of the saga. They have not spoken in the years since about what happened, even when they have seen each other out and about walking their dogs.

“I’ve seen him walking around the streets because we live close to each other,” Demetriou said.

“(But) I haven’t spoken to him.”

Asked what he would say to Hird if the chance arose, the former AFL boss said: “I would say that I’m glad you are back in football and I think it is great the Giants have picked him up (in a leadership role) because he’s made a significant contribution to the game and has been one of (the AFL’s) great players.

“The fact that now the club’s giving him an opportunity is a good thing.

“He’s still got a lot to contribute to football and he shouldn’t be penalised and have a life penalty because of something that happened and has been dealt with.”

 

[Foxx]

Everybody was in the wrong to varying degrees.
Essendon, the AFL, Casa, the media.
It was a sad mess.