News Clubs operating league-sanctioned drug testing program - Harley Balic’s Dad Speaks

[Chief]

AFL Statement

As well as being a signatory to World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code via the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code, the AFL has an Illicit Drug Policy which has been in place since 2005, and at the core of the policy is a commitment to player wellbeing and welfare.

The AFL Illicit Drug Policy (IDP) is a policy that specifically deals with the use of illicit substances out of competition and is focussed on player health and well-being. The policy seeks to reduce substance use and drug-related harms for AFL players and aims to inform and rehabilitate players through education and intervention.

It exists alongside and in addition to the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code which covers prohibited substances including some illicit substances in competition as prescribed by the WADA prohibited list.

Urine tests conducted by doctors to determine if a player has used illicit substances are part of the AFL’s Illicit Drug Policy medical model and have been for some time.

Doctors may use those urine tests to obtain an immediate result to determine whether any illicit substance remains in a player’s system. This is normally conducted at the club or in the doctors consulting rooms.

If the test shows a substance is still in the players system, a doctor will take steps to prevent a player from taking part in either training and/or an AFL match both for their own health and welfare and because having illicit substances in your system on match day may be deemed performance enhancing and a breach of the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code (depending on the substance involved).

It is absolutely imperative that no doctor or club official should ever allow or encourage a player to take the field knowing they have recently taken an illicit substance that may be harmful to their health and/or may be deemed performance-enhancing (as many illicit substances are on match day).

We support the WADA code (as it applies to our sport through the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code) and support the fundamental premise on which it is founded that any player who takes the field with a performance-enhancing prohibited substance in their system should be treated in accordance with the Anti-Doping Code and face heavy sanctions.

The AFL observes that AFL players are not immune to the societal issues faced by young people with respect to illicit substances and also acknowledges that illicit drug use problems commonly co-occur with other mental health conditions.

While the AFL’s medical model involves a multidisciplinary healthcare management plan, the monitoring of players is highly confidential. A doctor or healthcare professional generally cannot disclose the nature of the clinical intervention or condition to others unless the player willingly consents.

We understand that the Illicit Drugs Policy can be improved and we are working with the AFLPA and players to improve the policy and the system to ensure we are better able to change the behaviours of players. But we are unapologetic about club and AFL doctors taking the correct steps to ensure that any player who they believe has an illicit substance in their system does not take part in any AFL match and that doctor patient confidentially is upheld and respected.

The AFL will always be required to make decisions which seek to balance competing rights and interests. The medical interests and welfare of players is a priority for the AFL given everything we know about the risks facing young people generally and those who play our game in particular.

 

[nick1408]

So can I assume that WADA will have an issue with any cocaine positives as they are prohibited on matchday or is this workaround all good under WADA's rules?

 

[smasha]

Mick Warner TY for opening the lid on the CFL.

Tiger man.

 

[Munga]

 

[HairyO]

Being caught with drugs is an automatic strike.

If the AFL are giving these players a strike then maybe what they claim is half true. Who here believes this is happening though?

Wilkie goes BANG with his sinister white line fever....

What are the odds the whistleblowers went to him first? Wilkie wanted to table the documents and the Govt said no. Did the Govt already know and say they werent interested ?

 

[pattymalone00]

So can I assume that WADA will have an issue with any cocaine positives as they are prohibited on matchday or is this workaround all good under WADA's rules?

From what I gathered from Sam, it sounds like all WADA care about is matchday so any positive tests outside match day is all good..

 

[SBYM]

No woe-is-us: An off-season of tumult has galvanised the Demons - AFL Daily

Damian Barrett and Sarah Olle bring you all the latest footy news on AFL Daily. Damo has taken a deep-dive into the off-season of the Demons; Joel Smith, Clayton Oliver, Angus Brayshaw amongst the many off-season stories that has galvanised the playing group, refusing to give into a woe-is-us...

omny.fm

At the 3min mark...

'...the [MFC] football department has put a line on everything and is starting afresh as best they can...'

lol Purple, you deadset plonker...

 

[pattymalone00]

 

[HairyO]

Well this was poorly timed...

 

[RAPPA]

AFL protecting its own arse (reputation) by doing these clandestine tests and avoiding inevitable public scrutiny arising from positive results from WADA testing.

If it’s within rules then it’s within rules. However it should still come with a sanction to the player. Just because intoxicated Johnny is pulled up and prevented from operating the high risk machinery before doing so, doesn’t excuse his conduct of being dumb enough to be intoxicated when rocking up to work.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Who gives a f*** if Goodwin is doing cocaine ?. He is a player, not a coach.

This whole thing is weird.

I bet a more than handy portion of the Melbourne membership thinks that he shouldn’t be doing cocaine while pissing away years of their premiership window.

 

[Makeshift Park]

What are the odds the whistleblowers went to him first? Wilkie wanted to table the documents and the Govt said no. Did the Govt already know and say they werent interested ?

The sports minister probably appreciated having a night to get her talking points drafted up before all the gory details became public.

Federal governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars for AFL-related projects.

If it turns out the league's governing body has been covering up systemic cocaine use to avoid gameday detection, that opens up questions of whether the government was doing enough due diligence.

 

[bigblueboy]

Damian Barrett article published in the past day on the AFL app. The irony …

 

[TW Sherrin]

Wilkie is a coward hiding behind privilege.

He wouldn't have an axe to grind with the AFL over a stadium would he?

 

[HairyO]

The sports minister probably appreciated having a night to get her talking points drafted up before all the gory details became public.

Federal governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars for AFL-related projects.

If it turns out the league's governing body has been covering up systemic cocaine use to avoid gameday detection, that opens up questions of whether the government was doing enough due diligence.

Tabled documents dont instantly end up front page in the media.

It would be interesting to know how many doors were knocked on before Wilkie.

 

[pattymalone00]

 

[3207]

The sports minister probably appreciated having a night to get her talking points drafted up before all the gory details became public.

Federal governments spend hundreds of millions of dollars for AFL-related projects.

If it turns out the league's governing body has been covering up systemic cocaine use to avoid gameday detection, that opens up questions of whether the government was doing enough due diligence.

So you think it’s a league mandate? And not club(s) in isolation?

EDIT: Turns out it is!! Jaysus this going to be a hot topic for a while!!

 

[BIGHAWK23]

Mick Warner has jumped the gun here

 

[Makeshift Park]

Tabled documents dont instantly end up front page in the media.

It would be interesting to know how many doors were knocked on before Wilkie.

Wilkie's parliamentary statement was at 7.10.

One of his advisors or one of the whistleblowers would have tipped Warner off that he was going to do it.

Then, in the hour that followed, Warner published an entire article for the Herald Sun on it.

Then I created this thread at 8.14.

If the documents had been tabled, no doubt that would have been covered straight away too.

But since they aren't covered by parliamentary privilege, it creates legal complexities for the news outlets.

 

[Obzerva]

Would be very curious if the media actually probed hard enough for the AFL to actually produce some hard numbers about numbers of strikes issued.

I'd imagine the AFL wouldn't want those numbers to come out - even if it's anonymous figures, ie just a league wide figure, eg the number of first strikes issued across the league, number of second strikes.

 

[SBYM]

To use the appropriate parlance, nothingburger?

 

[Makeshift Park]

Sam Edmund reports like he's on an AFL retainer.

 

[HairyO]

Are they saying whether these players are getting strikes under their ilicit drug policy ?

 

[3207]

To use the appropriate parlance, nothingburger?

Huh?

 

[Andyy]

I wouldn't be surprised at all.

I've had one account from an AFL player about the 2020 season and the isolation hubs and it was made very clear that all they did was drink and enjoy drugs, women sneaking in, friends outside the hub just throwing bags of cocaine over the fence etc. It was rampant.

The AFL pay themselves very well and are dependent on that income so it wouldn't surprise me if they did everything they could to ensure that money kept coming in - including protecting players from external sanctions via ASADA/WADA etc. If the best players are caught doping then the product quality will drop and so will profits.

It's always about the money for them and the bookies.

 

[killerspud]

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