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.

 

[MP_]

I just don’t have a do gooder attitude like you and judge others if they don’t fall in.

A bit of reading on the history of why illegal drugs are illegal would be enlightening for you.

The legal drugs in alcohol and cigarettes are of course totally harmless along with all the gambling that plagues our society.

I’m so sorry I have morals and ethics.

 

[Geek]

Sidebottom "managed" and will miss tomorrow night while Hoskin-Elliott who was managed last week is clean (sorry cleared) to play.

WHAT'S HE ON???????? LOL

Gotta admit that Hoss was the first "managed" I could think of from our lot.

Then I laughed at the image of him knocking back a rope or two, before he struts off shirtless around the room, sniffing, wiping his nose on his forearms and telling everyone what he thought of "all the slutz"

 

[PP34]

I’m so sorry I have morals and ethics.

Yeah you’ve told us about 500 times

 

[Demonic Ascent]

The issue for me isn't with the AFL and WADA, but the AFL and the Australian government. How can you be awarding funding grants to an organisation that is engaged in the cover up of its employees constantly absuing A class drugs. Surely the government funding this endeavour is neither optimal use of taxpayer's money or of societal benefit.

Jeez you'd probably be shocked at what goes on inside Parliament House.

 

[3207]

Jeez you'd probably be shocked at what goes on inside Parliament House.

So would Bruce Lehrmann

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Jeez you'd probably be shocked at what goes on inside Parliament House.

The obvious difference being that nobody who works inside Parliament House has written a press release confirming it.

 

[PP34]

In that case I don't know why we would expect any player to obey any law at all. It only makes sense; they play AFL so therefore they can't be held to account for any of their choices.

They are good at football. It makes sense.

It’s not that at all.

It’s just the AFL exercises common sense and understands some of their players will take drugs.

Banning players left, right and centre is a ridiculous approach and not something any sporting code in the world does.

They are also not there to be the police.

The police in Victoria don’t even care about drug use either. There’s a reason safe injection rooms exist and aren’t shut down by the police.

 

[Foucault1989]

I actually support the AFL's policy on this. I just hope it also comes with education and support for those who test positive.

 

[ep2018]

I wonder if this is Wilkie's way of trying to get the stadium canned. Put pressure on the AFL and have the federal government withdraw the promised 250(?) million.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Guilty of what exactly? - if you don't play then you cant be guilty of a match day crime.
FWIW, any coach would be absolutely ropeable with any player who makes themselves unavailable in this way - one step closer to the exit door.
The real story here is that drug culture at Melbourne seems so out of control, that they have to take these steps.

You think the AFL set up this workaround solely to benefit the MFC?

 

[powerrrrrrrrrrrr]

The legal drugs in alcohol and cigarettes are of course totally harmless along with all the gambling that plagues our society.

Gotta say though when I drink a beer watching the footy, the team that made that beer at the factory haven’t been kidnapping, murdering and torturing others at the factory in the process of making that beer.

Big difference between consuming and supporting alcohol from regulated companies and supporting these other “entities”.

Accepting its use is also accepting and promoting these events. Just because they don’t occur on our doorstop in plain sight doesn’t mean we just allow it.

 

[Wray27]

I’ve had the best part of a day to read and think about this. Before we “hang” anyone it would be good to know how many players have taken advantage of the self-reporting ‘loop hole’ if we call it that. It would also be good to know whether the affected players went on to receive help, e.g., rehab, counselling, etc

It seems Wilkie and his friends would rather see AFL footballers exposed and shamed, like Joel Smith. Wilkie doesn’t seem to appreciate that the players volunteered to be part of the AFL illicit drug policy program that was introduced in 2005, and that player confidentiality was always meant to be of paramount importance. How many other sporting codes have similar policies?

What do we want? Players getting nabbed on game day and suspended for 4 or 5 years? Or the player having the ability to self report in confidence and effectively being banned for as long as the illicit substance is in their system?

If it transpires players are self reporting en masses then we have a problem, but Andrew Dillon says there have only been a handful of players.

Just been reported on Mid Week Tackle that there are 100 players under the medical protocol and not subject to strikes. This came from the head of the AFL Drs association.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Making 2 assumptions here 1. It’s only coke they’re talking about & 2. That coke couldn’t be an excuse for hiding other drugs

Does anyone seriously think players are taking cocaine solely to mask using some kind of PED's? Like seriously people think that's why players are racking up?

 

[3207]

Gotta say though when I drink a beer watching the footy, the team that made that beer at the factory haven’t been kidnapping, murdering and torturing others at the factory in the process of making that beer.

Big difference between consuming and supporting alcohol from regulated companies and supporting these other “entities”.

Accepting its use is also accepting and promoting these events. Just because they don’t occur on our doorstop in plain sight doesn’t mean we just allow it.

Bit when you’re drinking a mid-strength aren’t you feeling extremely guilty?

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Exactly, hard to take a drug policy seriously when they are knowingly allowing it to be bypassed. They are currently all high and mighty on protecting the head but are happy to let players get away with drug taking. Where is the AFL's duty of care, what does the AFL players association have to say about this?

How are they getting away with it? They're effectively being suspended because of it.

 

[PP34]

Gotta say though when I drink a beer watching the footy, the team that made that beer at the factory haven’t been kidnapping, murdering and torturing others at the factory in the process of making that beer.

Big difference between consuming and supporting alcohol from regulated companies and supporting these other “entities”.

Accepting its use is also accepting and promoting these events. Just because they don’t occur on our doorstop in plain sight doesn’t mean we just allow it.

You can blame prohibition for that.

Funnily enough that happened once with alcohol.

 

[The Tilt]

Wilkie has seriously over cooked this.

I agree that it isn't a good look to advise players to fake injury but that's about it.

All the WADA stuff is tripe and as if he gives a * about the punters.

Exactly!

This passage from Wilkie is genuinely laughable:

If there are no illegal drugs in the player’s system they are free to play and if there are drugs in their system the player is often asked to fake an injury.

They are advised to lie about a condition, while the results of the off-the-book tests are kept secret and are never shared with Sports Integrity Australia or WADA.

In other words, hundreds of thousands of Australians will watch the game not knowing that the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL and thousands of Australians will bet on that game not knowing the game has been secretly manipulated by the AFL.

Games being "secretly manipulated by the AFL"?! Is this guy for real?

 

[Demonic Ascent]

1) No.

2) I don’t think match payments are going through their heads when they have a little nasal exercise at a nightclub during the week. Some would be pleased to miss a week and still be paid well, others would take a game off over being caught by WADA. You might get some who are annoyed but the alternative is far more annoying and upsetting.

Come on, which AFL players don't want to play on the weekend? Sure there might be the odd player here or there that's happy to get paid for a week off but the vast majority won't like being forced to the sidelines and missing match payments.

 

[threenewpadlocks]

Does anyone seriously think players are taking cocaine solely to mask using some kind of PED's? Like seriously people think that's why players are racking up?

Whatever the truth was with Josh Thomas and Lachie Keeffe, your example above was literally their version of events. They tested positive for PEDs, got it reduced from 24 to 18 months because it was accepted their ingestion of it was unintentional, and openly stated that it was related to their illicit substance abuses (such as it being laced). If that's actually the truth or that they made it up to get a six-month discount, it's still the verison of events accepted by everyone - they had PEDs in the system but it was "masked" (or unintentionally linked please give me 18 months instead of 24) by their illicit substance taking.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Plenty of normal Australians have higher standards to adhere to and actual consequences for their drug use.

The fact these players get away Scott free in season, still get paid, and are encouraged to self report to avoid any meaningful infractions is a farce.

Why? It's not like they're operating heavy machinery they're playing a game for a living. Do you expect everyone in society to be subject to mandatory drug testing? Clock on, piss in this jar, sit at your desk.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Whatever the truth was with Josh Thomas and Lachie Keeffe, your example above was literally their version of events. They tested positive for PEDs, got it reduced from 24 to 18 months because it was accepted their ingestion of it was unintentional, and openly stated that it was related to their illicit substance abuses (such as it being laced). If that's actually the truth or that they made it up to get a six-month discount, it's still the verison of events accepted by everyone - they had PEDs in the system but it was "masked" (or unintentionally linked please give me 18 months instead of 24) by their illicit substance taking.

No you've got this backwards. They took coke or speed or whatever that unbeknownst to them had PEDs cut with it. They didn't take PEDs as a matter of course and then use coke on the weekend to throw off ASADA.

 

[PP34]

Why? It's not like they're operating heavy machinery they're playing a game for a living. Do you expect everyone in society to be subject to mandatory drug testing? Clock on, piss in this jar, sit at your desk.

They clearly do and it’s quite grim that anyone would advocate for such a blatant invasion of privacy

 

[Anja_Nees]

Given that in the history of the illicit drug policy the only people who have been publicly identified by the AFL for a subsequent strike have been those first identified by the media or police I think we can safely say that either:

The AFL policy on intervention after a first strike where the club isn't told is so effective that nobody ever gets the 2nd strike.

Or..

The gaming of the system is far more widespread and far more systematic than a single club or a single cohort of players.

Consider the possibility quite a few at AFL HQ have uneven nostrils.

 

[DragoDelph]

Been thinking of the best way to articulate this, not sure if it's there yet, but here goes.

If something is dangerous or harmful to an individual, or society in general, regardless of if it is currently legal or illegal, should we not be doing something to reduce it's harm generation on generation?

This idea that because something is prevalent or common within society, that we should just shrug our shoulders and bury our heads in the sand, basically say "go nuts, do whatever" is a major cop out.

The AFL has the opportunity to make a stand and work towards better outcomes for all of it's stakeholders. That relates to gambling, alcohol, illicit drugs.

We've seen players cop bigger penalties for drinking on short breaks than we have illegal drug use, simply because one is easy to identify, and the other is protected by confidentiality.

You can't make a better tomorrow by ignoring what's wrong with today. Just because something is widespread, doesn't make it ok, or right.

 

[blackshadow]

Heroin is not a drug you can do recreationally during the week, train and play!

Actually it is. The main issue with heroin is how addictive it is and the danger of ODing but as far as physiological harm it's far less harmful than alcohol, cocaine, speed etc.

Someone can use H and wake up the next day feeling fit as a mallee bull.