Australian Football League side Essendon Chair Paul Little has described as "worse than irresponsible" comments by the AFL's most senior medical official warning of an "increased cancer risk to players exposed to the club's 2012 season supplement program," according to Chip Le Grand of THE AUSTRALIAN. Little on Thursday contacted AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan to "voice his concerns" about Dr. Peter Harcourt's comments at an anti-doping conference in Europe in which he claimed that players had "'passively' accepted the injections regime" and were facing "potential hormonal issues or cancers" as a consequence. Little said that the club "was now seeking advice from other medical experts to ease the concerns of players and their families" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/3). In Melbourne, Samantha Lane reported the "surfacing of Harcourt's conference address triggered a stinging public rebuke" from acting AFLPA CEO Ian Prendergast on Thursday, that was "subsequently followed up behind closed doors." The talks "involved AFL integrity officer Brett Clothier and AFLPA legal representative Brett Murphy, but while acknowledging there had been follow-up, AFL spokesman Patrick Keane said the league had no comment" (THE AGE, 7/3).
