Footballers face a four-match suspension and a A$5,000 ($3,500) fine should they record a second positive drug detection under the Australian Football League's "new illicit drugs policy," which could be formalized "as soon as next week," according to Caroline Wilson of THE AGE. The AFL players and AFL Football Operations Manager Mark Evans are understood to be "on the verge of a new agreement that will prove significantly tougher on illicit drugs offenders and see players face consequences at every stage of the detection policy." The two bodies -- led by key negotiators Ian Prendergast and Evans -- have moved "significantly closer to an agreement over the past week," with both parties confident of a resolution and hopeful a deal "will be in place before most players depart for their annual leave and the so-called high-risk period." Under the "yet-to-be-ratified model," a player would:
- Receive a suspended fine of A$5,000 after a first detection, along with "specific assessment, counselling, education and treatment, and targeted urine and hair testing."
- Be suspended for four matches and fined A$5,000 after a second detection, with their club CEO and player welfare manager informed of the result.
- Be suspended for 12 matches and fined A$10,000 ($7,000) after a third positive drugs test.
- Be allowed to "self-report and therefore be subjected to a structured education program only if they have no previous detections" (THE AGE, 9/2).
AFL FACES LEGAL ACTION: In Melbourne, Jon Pierik reported Melbourne lawyer Jackson Taylor "has launched legal action in the Supreme Court" against the AFL over its "handling of the Essendon supplements saga," claiming the league "engaged in multiple acts of misleading or deceptive conduct." Taylor alleged the breaches include "misleading or deceiving" the public over the integrity of the joint investigation in '13 conducted by the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, the AFL's responsibilities for player health and safety and the AFL's "corporate values." Taylor: "We rightly expect high standards of corporate conduct in this country. It is important they are upheld. It's even more important in the case of large institutions like the AFL." AFL Chair Mike Fitzpatrick and CEO Gillon McLachlan "have been named as defendants in the 32-page writ" (
THE AGE, 9/2).
