Essendon players have been found guilty in the Court of Arbitration for Sport for their part in the use banned substance Thymosin Beta-4 after nearly three years of investigations and hearings. It looks as though the 34 players who were at the time of the alleged offences with Essendon are going to be forced to miss the 2016 season. There is suspected to be some appeals which means that the saga may drag out longer yet.
Essendon Football Club have released the following statement
Regrettably we can confirm the Court of Arbitration for Sport has found 34 past and present players guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation. As a result, the players - including 12 currently listed with Essendon - have been suspended for the 2016 season. The Club is currently digesting the decision and we will provide a further update later today.
Lindsay Tanner Chairman
Statement from the CAS
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has today issued its decision in the arbitration procedure between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and 34 current and former players of Essendon
The appeal filed by WADA against the Australian Football League (AFL) Anti-Doping Tribunal's decision of 31 March 2015 is upheld and the appealed decision is set aside. The 34 players concerned are sanctioned with a period of ineligibility of two years, commencing on 31 March 2015, with credit given for any individual period of ineligibility already served. Thus, most of the suspensions will come to an end in November 2016.
The arbitration procedure was conducted by a panel of CAS arbitrators: the Hon. Michael J. Beloff QC, barrister in London, United Kingdom (President), Mr. Romano Subiotto QC, SolicitorAdvocate in Brussels, Belgium, and the Hon. James Spigelman AC QC, barrister in Sydney, Australia and London, United Kingdom.
The Panel held a hearing with the parties in Sydney, Australia from 16 to 20 November 2015. In its Arbitral Award, the Panel found to its comfortable satisfaction that Clause 11.2 of the 2010 AFL Doping Code (use of a prohibited substance) has been violated and found by a majority that all players were significantly at fault. ...