With the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that Essendon footballers were knowingly guilty of doping in 2012, there have been spirited arguments for and against Jobe Watson retaining his medal…
Athletes are marginalised in anti-doping processes led by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
EPA/Hendrik Schmidt
Having learned some hard lessons with the Essendon case, Australia should lead the way in developing a better approach to drug control and anti-doping in sport.
Thirty-four current and former Essendon footballers have been suspended for 12 months for a doping offence.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
Some might think the anti-doping principle of strict liability is too harsh. But the banned Essendon players unfortunately may be barking up the wrong tree if they think they are innocent victims.
When ASADA issued infraction notices against 34 past or present Essendon footballers, the case was heard – as per World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) protocol – by the anti-doping tribunal of the relevant…
This week the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) meets in Sydney to hear a case by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against 34 past or present Essendon Football Club players. This hearing stems from…
By laying charges against the Essendon Football Club, WorkSafe Victoria has accepted that its mandate extends to professional sports.
AAP/Tracey Nearmy
The implications of the bringing of OHS charges extend far beyond Essendon. For WorkSafe Victoria and professional sporting competitions, it is the equivalent of crossing the rubicon.
The standard of proof that applies in different types of judicial proceedings may result in quite different verdicts.
Shutterstock/Andrey Popov
After saying he was ‘deeply suspicious’, a judge cleared a man of child pornography offences. We need to understand the standard of proof to make sense of verdicts, including AFL rulings on doping.
Thirty-four current and former Essendon players have been cleared of taking a banned substance during the club’s supplements program.
AAP/Joe Castro
The so-called “blackest day” in Australian sport can now instead be described as the precursor to its foggiest period, following the exoneration of 34 Essendon players from taking a banned drug.
Essendon faces the prospect of not being able to field a team next year.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
Federal Court Justice John Middleton’s decision to uphold the legality of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation into the potential use of banned substances at the Essendon Football…
Will Essendon players face sanction if it is proven that they took banned substances during the 2012 AFL season?
AAP/Joe Castro
Speculation continues to mount that Essendon Football Club players will face sanctions from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) over the club’s controversial 2011-12 supplements program…
2013 saw a decisive change of government in Australia. What else happened?
AAP/Lisa Maree Williams
Three prime ministers, four Labor Party leaders, two popes. 2013 was nothing if not a hectic year for the Politics + Society desk at The Conversation. And while it’s repeated so often as to go beyond being…
The Essendon supplements scandal that has enveloped the current AFL season has created the narrative of villains and heroes. Is it a sports marketers’ dream?
AAP/Julian Smith
This season, some sports commentators and footy fans have argued that the investigation into the supplements regime at Essendon has brought the club, the AFL and “the code” to their knees. From a branding…
The devotion of Essendon fans towards their coach and club legend James Hird - despite his involvement in the club’s supplements saga - can be easily explained away.
AAP/Julian Smith
It’s times like these when we get to see just how much sports like Australian rules football shape the thoughts and dreams of so many Australians. Not only has the Essendon drugs scandal dominated much…
It looks likely to be lawyers at ten paces as Essendon and the AFL head to court over the supplements scandal.
AAP/Julian Smith
The only real winners in the whole Essendon drug supplement saga are set to be the lawyers. With all parties “lawyering up” and multiple court actions either under way or threatened, legal eagles will…
The alleged “supplements program” at Essendon Football club raises many questions.
David Crosling/AAP
The notice of charges by the AFL against Essendon Football Club has been published, and we have dealt elsewhere with some of the facts of the matter. But some harder questions remain. What does this list…
Dr Frankenstein created a beast of horrifying power; Essendon just created a shambles.
Image from shutterstock.com
The list of charges by the AFL against the Essendon Football Club for its alleged supplements program makes for compelling reading. Early on in the Essendon charge sheet is this paragraph, which sets the…
Essendon coach James Hird, along with his club and three other senior officials, have been charged by the AFL over the supplements saga.
AAP Image/Julian Smith
The idiom “what you don’t know can’t hurt you” usually means the less you know about the possible risks and harms that can befall you, the less likely you are to worry yourself sick about them. The recently…
Anti-doping is about protecting the integrity of sport, but what about the people?
ĐāżŦ {mostly absent}
With the AFL and NRL “doping scandals” grinding on it seems there’s no end in sight to this saga. But there should be – and soon. Anti-doping will never work and should be replaced with a different approach…
Essendon coach James Hird outside his home on August 14, 2013 after the AFL charged him and four other club officials for bringing the game into disrepute over the alleged banned supplements scandal.
Julian Smith/AAP
The news that the AFL has charged James Hird, and other members of the Essendon Football Club’s management staff (including the club doctor, Bruce Reid) with bringing the sport into disrepute should surprise…
Catching all dopers would be an expensive exercise, running into tens of millions of dollars.
EPA/Dominic Favre
On the back of an interim report by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) into the Essendon Football Club’s controversial supplements program in 2011-12, the AFL last night charged the club…
Research Fellow, Institute for Health & Sport, member of the Community, Identity and Displacement Research Network, and Co-convenor of the Olympic Research Network, Victoria University