ASADA collated the responses to their questioning and produced a table titled ‘Admitted Use of Substances by Players and Officials’. With no possible justification, ASADA translated the following responses as a player admitting to having been administered a specific substance: The ASADA/AFL investigation was compromised by the investigators leading the players in interview and then misrepresenting the evidence when reporting their findings. Even when prompted with the name of a specific substance, many players were still not certain whether they had been administered that particular substance.
ASADA behaved deceitfully in misrepresenting (fabricating) player substance-taking responses in its “Admitted use of substances by players table”;
• I did not use AOD-960
• I’m not 100% sure
• I did not use
• it’s a familiar name
• may have been
• not sure
• it could have been that or it could not have been
• ringing a bell
• couldn’t be exact if I was
• I’ve definitely heard the word
• that’s one of the reasons I didn’t take it as on the sticker it said ‘For medical research purposes only”
• couldn’t recall
These responses were recorded as a ‘Yes’ for various specific substances. In each case, the name of the substance was suggested by the investigator. In some instances, when a player could not even be prompted, ASADA decided for itself that it was more likely than not that a prohibited substance had been administered.
Examples of the distortion of the evidence to record admissions by the players:
i. Xxxxxx is asked about Thymosin, “Oh, I’m not sure it’s just a very familiar name to me yeah, I’m not sure if I did or not, but.” In the table this response is recorded as ‘Yes’ in the Thymosin column.
ii. Xxxxxx is unsure if he took Tribulus, “I am not 100% sure.” This response by is recorded as ‘Yes’ in the Tribulus column.
iii. Xxxxxx recalls receiving cream from Mr Dank that he did not use, “I could see the amount of cream in there with the blue lid or – I think it might have been blue tack on top. Although he also says he did not use AOD-9604 cream ASADA recorded him with a ‘Yes’ in the AOD-9604 cream column.
iv. Xxxxx declares he was not sure if he used Colostrum, “Yeah, I’m not 100% sure.” This response is recorded as ‘Yes’ in the Colostrum column
v. Ccccc recalls that he may have been injected with Cerebrolysin, “It could have been that or it could have been Thymosin. I’m not 100 per cent sure on that.” This response was recorded as a ‘Yes’ for both Cerebrolysin and Thymosin. It should not have been recorded as yes for either substance.
vi. Xxxxxx recalls that he may have been injected with Thymosin, “But, to me, Thymosin is ringing a bell.” “May have” and “ringing a bell” would not constitute a yes in a court of law. Thymosin was mentioned in the newspapers almost daily so it is no wonder it rang a bell. That is a long way from being 100 per cent certain he was administered Thymosin.
vii. Xxxxx also recalls being given an injection at HyperMED, “But we did receive one in the bum … and he said it was an Amino Acid”. This response was recorded correctly as a ‘Yes’ for an unknown amino acid and inappropriately also as a ‘Yes’ for Cerebrolysin. Irrespective of what the others may or may not have been administered, “One [injection] in the bum” hardly constitutes a certainty it was Cerebrolysin!
viii. Xxxx recalls that he may have been injected with Thymosin, “But couldn’t be exact if I was, but I believe I did have a – that name certainly rings a bell, yep.” “May have”, couldn’t be exact” and “ringing a bell” didn’t entitle ASADA to record a ‘Yes’ in the Thymosin column.
ix. Xxxxxx recalls receiving cream from Mr Dank that he claims he did not use, “When I tore my quad later in the year, I remember him giving like a syringe – it was like a thing and it had a little log on it and he said put it in the fridge for a day and rub it on your quad.” Although xxxxx claims he didn’t use the cream, it was recorded as a ‘Yes’ in the AOD-9604 column.
x. Xxxxx also recalls he may have been injected with Thymosin by Mr Dank, “Thymosin rings a bell like. I’ve definitely heard the word but, you know, I wouldn’t be up to tell you if I was injected with it or not.” ASADA recorded xxxxx’s uncertainty as a ‘Yes’ in the Thymosin column.
xi. Xxxx received AOD-9604 cream from Mr Dank. “Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I didn’t take it is on the sticker it said ‘For medical research purposes only’”. This response was recorded as a ‘Yes’ in the AOD-9604 column.
xii. Xxxxx recalls receiving an injection at HyperMED. He couldn’t name the substance. “That one was quite – I remember that being quite – a bit more painful. It only lasted for, you know, maybe a minute, and then you are fine again.” Although some other players who admitted, with prompting of the name, being administered Cerebrolysin experienced the injection in a similar way, ASADA was out of order in recording xxxx as admitting having been administered Cerebrolysin.
xiii, xxxxx recalls receiving one injection [substance unknown] from Mal Hooper at HyperMED, “It was just one in the glute.” This response was recorded as Jetta admitting to having been injected with Cerebrolysin.
xiv. Xxxx recalls he may have used AOD-9604, “Yes, I may have – I’m not 100% sure but AOD now is a very familiar name but I’m really unsure if or I haven’t – taken that. This was recorded in the table as zxxx admitting he was administered AOD-9604.
xv. Xxxx also recalls receiving an injection from Dean Robinson that may have been AOD-9604, “I’d just assumed it was the same as the recovery thing that we had had the whole way along.” This is not an admission of having been administered AOD-9604, but is recorded as one.
xvi. Ccccc also recalls receiving an injection from Mr Dank that “may have been Thymosin”, “No, not the first time.” This was inappropriately recorded as an admission of having been administered Thymosin.
xvii. Ccccc recalls he received an Amino Acid injection at HyperMED, and “got an injection in the bum.” This is not an admission by xxxx of having been administered Cerebrolysin, but is recorded as such.
xviii. Xxxxx recalls receiving an injection from Mal Hooper that may have been Cerebrolysin. “I’m going to give you a vitamin and as well to help in your recovery.” an admission by xxxx of having been administered Cerebrolysin.
xix. xxxxx claims he received two injections to his gluteal from Mr Dank that were described as vitamins. Xxxx also claims that Mr Dank indicated that the injections might help him sleep. This response was not an admission by xxxxx that he was administered Melanotan II, yet it was recorded as a ‘Yes’ in the Melanotan II column.
xx. xxxxxx recalls “Mal Hooper from HyperMED Chapel Street. I got two from him on one occasion ASADA was not entitled to make a judgment on behalf of the player along the lines of “one is likely to have been Cerebrolysin” and then record a ‘Yes’ in the Cerebrolysin column, yet they did.
xxi .xxxxx recalls Thymosin being mentioned “so yes, I think more than likely I have had Thymosin.” This is not an admission by xxxx that he had been injected with Thymosin.
xxii. xxxxx recalls being injected at HyperMED which is likely to have been Cerebrolysin “Obviously you go to the hyperbaric chamber for two hours and then we got a jab after that”. ‘Interview 21 May 2013’. This is not an admission by xxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
xxiii. Xxxxx recalls being injected by Mal Hooper at HyperMED up to 4 times, likely to be Cerebrolysin, “He said, I’ll – I’ll give you another injection just into, like, side of my hip, sort of thing”. (ASADA interview 22 May 2013). This is not an admission by xxxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
xxiv. Xxxxx recalls an injection likely to be Cerebrolysin from Mal Hooper at HyperMED, “Went into a room, yeah, Dank was there with him and got a, yeah, got a jab in, in, in the bum.” This is not an admission by xxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
xxv. xxxxx recalls that he may have been injected with AOD-9604, “But I may have, but yes I couldn’t – couldn’t recall if I – I certainly did, yeah.” This is not an admission by xxxxx that he was administered AOD-9604.
xxvi. xxxxx recalls receiving approximately 3 injections of Amino Acids at HyperMED, “I received an injection, from what I can recall, in the glute, and that was from Mal Hooper.” This is not an admission by xxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
xxvii. xxxxx recalls receiving and injection from Mal Hooper that is consistent with a Cerebrolysin injection, “And I – that one stands out for me because I remember walking out sore.” This is not an admission by xxxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
xxviii. xxxx recalls that he was injected in his glute by Mr Dank at the club, and suggests he may have received Cerebrolysin. “Yes, yes, it wasn’t like a long-lasting thing; it would be like for 10, 15 seconds.” This response doesn’t constitute is not an admission by xxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
xxix. xxxxx recalls receiving two injections from Malcolm Hooper at HyperMED that were likely to have been Cerebrolysin. “I know at the time like we were joking about it afterwards, like apparently, I’m pretty sure he said that the stuff that they were injecting was pretty powerful and that it would kick start a dead horse, so.” This is not an admission by xxxx that he was administered Cerebrolysin.
Essendon AFL Drug Saga 