The terms ‘corruption’, ‘biased’ and ‘incompetent’ / ‘inept’ have been used in the following analyses on the bases of their dictionary definitions:
- Corruption: “the process by which a word or expression is changed from its original state to one regarded as erroneous or debased”.
- Biased: “unfairly prejudiced for or against someone or something”.
- Inept/incompetent: “showing a lack of skill or ability not done well”.
WADA’s two America attorneys Richard Young and Brent Rychener based their case against the 34 Essendon players around an American idiom, variously attributed to a 19th century poet or 20th century labour union official: “When you see a bird that quacks like a duck, walks like a duck, has feathers and webbed feet — you can conclude that bird is a duck.”
Young and Rychener, belittled themselves and denigrated the Australian legal system by sarcastically claiming that “The Australian Football League’ (AFL) Anti-Doping Tribunal panellists – David Jones, John Nixon and Wayne Henwood – erred by failing to follow this common sense truism, instead effectively refusing to assume it is a duck without a complete DNA analysis and certified genealogical papers going back three generations.” (my emphasis)
Thousands of documents seen by me indicate that Young and Rychener were galahs that saw a duck when no such bird existed. Inter alia, the documents provide irrefutable proof that AFL Tribunal members accepted the veracity of ASADA lead investigator Aaron Walker’s claim at clause 93 of his 15 January 2015 affidavit that there was no evidence that either Dank or Essendon took possession of Thymosin Beta-4 in calendar 2011 or 2012.
Res ipsa loquitur, the panellists also considered that that Como Compounding stock and distribution records proved that it didn’t supply Dank or Essendon with Thymosin of any variety. Clearly, the AFL Tribunal panellists didn’t need to a complete a “DNA analysis and certified genealogical papers going back three generations”, to establish there was no duck!
The WADA case against the 34 Essendon players was based upon WADA misrepresentations, perjury, lies and omissions, and CAS panel apathy and ignorance, and according to my dictionary, arguably corruption. Tragically, for the players, WADA treated the CAS panel as fools and the panel responded as WADA had hoped.
To their everlasting shame and discredit to their profession, Young and Rychener misrepresented the evidence in their WADA Appeal and Appeal Appendices documents and the process against the players should have ended there. Young and Rychener made false allegations in their (WADA’s) Appeal and Appeal Appendices documents.
Item (Young & Rychener) 1: “When Dank participated in treating Cronulla [rugby league] players with Thymosin Beta-4 in August 2011, [compounding pharmacist] Maged Sedrak had told Dank the substance is well-known in the literature for its fast repair for tissues, you know, anti-inflammatory and repair for tissues.”
My Comment:
Young and Rychener lied, which means they perjured themselves. Sedrak not only told the investigators that he used ‘Thymosin’ and ‘Thymosin beta general’ on the Cronulla players, but he also told them that he never ever prepared Thymosin Beta-4 (my emphasis). Thus, Young and Rychener perjured themselves by tampering with the evidence by replacing ‘Thymosin’ with ‘Thymosin Beta-4’. This was a breach of Section 317 of the Crimes Act.
Item (Young & Rychener) 2: “In contrast, there is no suggestion by the parties or in the literature that Thymosin Alpha or Thymomodulin are considered beneficial for muscle building or faster recovery.”
My Comment:
i. Young disingenuously misrepresented the facts. He deceitfully implied throughout the CAS hearing that Thymosin Beta-4 was the only substance that aids recovery. Thymosin Alpha/Thymomodulin boosts the immune system, which aids recovery from exertion. When asked on 30 October 2013 by ASADA lawyer Emily Fitton (Question 18): “From your experience, what does Thymosin Alpha do? Is this substance athletics could use to enhance their performance?”
WADA’s expert witness Shane Charter said: “This peptide has potential to improve the immune function in certain people. Athletes we know have times when the immune function is suppressed due to game-day exertion or even pushing the body into over-reaching. So, theoretically, this could be of assistance to people that have URTI’s or similar immune issues. This is an indirect benefit to the athletes as if they are not sick, they can perform better.
ii. At question 19 on the same date, Fitton asked Charter: “From your experience, what does Thymosin Beta-4 do? Is this substance athletics could use to enhance their performance?” If so, why?
Charter responded: “The main benefits marketed for this product and with some scientific literatures are around the reduction in the inflammatory response, thus quicker healing from injury. Also, the possible benefit of increased tissue and less scar tissue or adhesions.
iii. In response to Essendon lawyer Tony Hargreaves asking Charter “what he was referring to when he spoke about Thymosin”, Charter said: “Thymomodulin or Thymosin Alpha… one of the big issues with athletes, because they train so hard … post training you have a window of opportunity for upper respiratory tract infections and suppressed immune function.” Charter went on to say that when he was talking about Thymosin Beta-4, “I’ll write it as TB4 or the full Thymosin Beta-4.”
Item (Young & Rychener) 3: “Dank’s raw materials supplier intended to purchase, believed he had purchased and received confirmation he had purchased, Thymosin Beta-4 from a Chinese manufacturer.”
My Comment: Young and Rychener lied, and therefore, perjured themselves. Shane Charter was Nima Alavi’s raw material supplier and he (Charter) did not receive confirmation that he had purchased Thymosin Beta-4. Young and Rychener breached Section 317 of the Crimes Act by tampering with the evidence by changing Thymosin to Thymosin Beta-4.
Item (Young & Rychener) 4: “Dank’s compounding pharmacist intended to compound, and believed he had compounded, Thymosin Beta-4.”
My Comment: Young and Rychener lied and thereby committed perjury. Nima Alavi was the compounding pharmacist. Young and Rychener had access to all the transcriptions of all interviews. Therefore, knew that Alavi repeatedly told the investigators that the raw material sent from China was labelled ‘Thymosin’ and not ‘Thymosin Beta-4’; he didn’t know there was a difference between Thymosin (Thymosin Alpha-1 / Thymomodulin) and Thymosin Beta-4; and, he repeatedly stated that as he didn’t have the raw material (which was labelled ‘Thymosin’) tested, he didn’t know whether it was Thymosin Alpha-1 / Thymomodulin, Thymosin Beta-4 or was an unknown substance.
Item (Young & Rychener) 5: “The compounding pharmacist invoiced Essendon for Thymosin Beta-4 and delivered to Dank vials containing what was believed to be Thymosin Beta-4.”
My Comment: Young and Rychener lied, and therefore, perjured themselves. The compounding pharmacist (Alavi) did not ever invoiced Essendon for Thymosin Beta-4. In a response to Walker’s enquiry on 7 March 2014, key ASADA witness Nima Alavi said: “I am still looking for the invoices. They all have Thymosin written so I can’t be sure which is Alpha [Thymomodulin] and which is Beta-4.” Young and Rychener also misrepresented the issue by omission by not stating that the only invoice containing the word ‘Thymosin’ was reversed because the substance was destroyed when exposed to light.
Item (Young & Rychener) 6: “Dank obtained confidential, signed forms from the Players consenting to a regiment of Thymosin injections.”
My Comment:
i. Young and Rychener were being disingenuous. Thymosin and Thymosin Beta-4 and Thymosin Beta-10 and Thymosin Beta-15 are not interchangeable. Thymosin is often used as the generic name for the permitted Thymosin Alpha-1 / Thymomodulin.
ii. On 3 July 2012, ASADA’s science and results manager Dr Stephen Watt emailed WADA and said: “I wanted to enquire if WADA has considered the prohibited status of the drug Thymomodulin also known as Thymosin.” Nothing could be more certain, ASADA’s official position agreed with Dank’s that Thymosin was the generic name for the permitted Thymomodulin. WADA didn’t challenge this assessment in 2012, the year under review. Nor did it provide evidence during the hearing to contradict the 3 July 2012 position. It should be noted that in an abject dereliction of duty, WADA did not table in discovery the 3 July 2012 Watt email.
iii. Signing a form in February to receive four substances, including ‘Thymosin’, doesn’t mean those four substances were administered in February or beyond. Most importantly, the form didn’t mention the substance Thymosin Beta-4. Unconscionably, WADA falsely claimed that Thymosin and Thymosin Beta-4 were the same substances.
WADA and the CAS panel acknowledged that although 34 players signed a form to receive AOD-9604, few, if any received it. The same principle applied to AOD-9604 applies to Thymosin.
iv. There was no evidence Dank ever received Thymosin Beta-4 and there was no evidence even one named player was administered it. In his 15 January 2015 affidavit, at clause 93, lead ASADA investigator Aaron Walker said: “The key question is what was the source of the THYMOSIN (my emphasis); and when (IF AT ALL) {my emphasis}, it was delivered.” Res ipsa loquitur, (IF AT ALL) means that Walker didn’t have a skerrick of evidence that Thymosin was delivered [to Dank or Essendon].
v. WADA was incorrectly implying that if a player consented to being administered Thymosin, he was administered Thymosin Beta-4. WADA made this unsubstantiated allegation despite Brent Stanton stating: “And then he [Dank] sort of just went through the four supplements that we could possibly take. ‘You won’t be taking them all.It will be down to needs or how you’re feeling.’ And he will be doing regular blood tests to see your blood levels.”
Item (Young & Rychener) 7: “Dank subsequently administered injections to the Players over the course of the 2012 season.”
My Comment: Young and Rychener were treating the Court of Arbitration for Sport as fools and the panel responded as desired. WADA was appealing against the AFL Tribunal’s decision to find the players not guilty of being injected with Thymosin Beta-4. It was disingenuous for Young and Rychener to claim that the players admitting that they had received an injection of Melatonin and/or Melanotan II and/or Cerebrolysin and/or Amino-Lite and/or AOD-9604 were admitting that they were injected with Thymosin Beta-4.
Item (Young & Rychener) 8: “The AFL Tribunal ignored the clear and substantial evidence that the Players were injected with Thymosin Beta-4 during the period between January and September 2012 and therefore used a prohibited substance in violation of clause 11.2 of the applicable 2010 AFT Code.”
My Comment:
i. Young and Rychener disingenuously, believed that if you repeated a lie often enough, some fool or three inept panellists would believe that it was the truth. Clearly, as ASADA’s head investigator Aaron Walker stated at clause 93 of his 15 January 2015 affidavit, that there was no evidence that either Dank or Essendon received Thymosin of any variety, it was deceitful and unethical to claim that there was “clear and substantial evidence that the Players were injected with Thymosin Beta-4 during the period between January and September 2012 and therefore used a prohibited substance in violation of clause 11.2 of the applicable 2010 AFT Code.”
ii. There was no “clear and substantial evidence that the Players were injected with Thymosin Beta-4 during the period between January and September 2012”. Arguably, Young and Rychener were implying that the AFL Tribunal was incompetent and/or corrupt in stating that it ignored the “clear and substantial evidence”.
iii. There was no “clear and substantial evidence” that Dank had procured Thymosin Beta-4 let alone that he had administered it to any of the 34 players.
iv. Thymosin Beta-4 was not listed by name by WADA as a prohibited substance in 2012, It was added to the WADA prohibited list six years later, on 1 January 2018. In an extraordinary criminal action, ASADA added Thymosin Beta-4 to its prohibited list website on 4 February 2013. Page 67 of the audit logs of the ‘Check your Substances’ document demonstrates that prior to 4 February 2013, athletes searching for “Thymosin Beta 4” were either not provided with a “Banned in Sport” response or were provided with a “Banned in Sport” response for unrelated substances (Tamosin and Tamoxen 20). This was confirmed internally by ASADA at 10:34:17 am on 4 February 2013. Furthermore, at a Senate Estimates Hearing in October 2019, ASADA CEO David Sharpe admitted that ASADA changed the status off Thymosin Beta-4 on 4 February 2013.
v. Following the timeline of the log, ASADA, in a duplicitous action to convict the innocent Essendon players, then breached the WADA Code by illegally altering the database when the issue blew up on 4 February 2013 and added a “Banned in Sport” status to Thymosin Beta-4. This can be seen by the 12:59:17pm entry on the same date.
Item (Young & Rychener) 9: “Stephen Dank, the former ‘Sports Scientist’ for Essendon, devised and implemented a team-wide doping program for the 2012 football season. The doping program included Dank’s injecting the Players with the prohibited substance Thymosin Beta-4. Thymosin Beta-4 is a peptide consisting of 43 amino acids and is designed and reputed to promote muscle growth and faster performance recovery.”
My Comment:
i. WADA listed Thymosin Beta-4 by name for the first time on the prohibited list in 2018. No one in the world could have searched any of the 208 national anti-doping organisations’ websites and ascertained the status of Thymosin Beta-4. Sport Integrity Australia’s (SIA) Sally Cook notified me on 27 July 2020 that on 30 September 2017, SIA had been sent the WADA 2018 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods along with the 2018 Summary of Major Modifications and Explanatory Notes that would be effective on 1 January 2018. (my emphasis). The Summary of Major Modifications included the statement: “Thymosin β4 was added as example of prohibited growth factors.”(my emphasis).
ii. It wasn’t a team-wide doping (sic) programme. Brent Stanton’s comment in his interview with ASADA on 7 May 2013 indicates that WADA’s claim was nonsense. Inter alia, Stanton stated: “And then he [Dank] sort of just went through the four supplements that we could possibly take. ‘You won’t be taking them all (emphasis added). It will be down to needs or how you’re feeling.’ And he will be doing regular blood tests to see your blood levels.”
iii. The 34 player interviews and staff interviews indicate that Dank never used the word ‘Thymosin Beta-4’ to a single player nor to a single Essendon staff member. It wasn’t a team-wide programme. There is no indication that the individual player programmes involved Thymosin Beta-4. It wasn’t a doping programme and Young and Rychener had no evidence and were clearly lying by making such a claim.
Item (Young & Rychener) 10: “Thymosin Beta-4 is a peptide consisting of 43 amino acids and is designed and reputed to promote muscle growth and faster performance recovery.”
My Comment:
i. Invariably, there is no scientific reason for placing a substance on the prohibited list. WADA’s ‘experts’ troll websites and take as Gospel extravagant claims by manufacturers of ‘super’ substances marketed to gym junkies.
ii. Young and Rychener were disingenuous through omission by implying that Thymosin Beta-4 and not Thymosin (Thymosin Alpha-1 /Thymomodulin), Thymosin Beta-10 and Thymosin Beta-15 promoted faster performance recovery.
iii. Thymosin Beta-4 manufacturers, without any supporting evidence, claimed that it helped fix soft tissue injuries and therefore speeded up recovery.
iv. Young and Rychener ignored the irrefutable evidence that by boosting the immune system, Thymosin (Thymosin Alpha-1/Thymomodulin) enhanced the recovery time from exertion, and from ailments such as colds and flu. The need for an enhanced rate of recovery was due to the strenuous training and hard matches. It had nothing to do with recovery from soft tissue injuries.
v. During his interview with Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell and lawyer Tony Hargreaves, Shane Charter was asked whether he thought Dank knew the difference between the two products Thymosin and Thymosin Beta-4. Charter said: “I believe, he – he [Dank] understood there was Thymosin or Thymosin Alpha, or Thymomodulin – whatever you want to call it. And there was another version, Thymosin Beta-4. Because at some point – and I won’t designate the timeline until I have the ability to look it up – he [Dank] placed an order with two of those products. In response to Hargreaves asking Charter “what he was referring to when he spoke about Thymosin” Charter said: “Thymomodulin or Thymosin Alpha… one of the big issues with athletes, because they train so hard … post training you have a window of opportunity for upper respiratory tract infections and suppressed immune function.” Charter went on to say that when he was talking about Thymosin Beta-4, “I’ll write it as TB4 or the full Thymosin Beta-4.”
Item (Young & Rychener) 11: “A few weeks before his official hiring, Dank openly stated in a 23 August 2011 text message to his soon-to-be Essendon boss, Dean ‘The Weapon’ Robinson, ‘Don’t forget how important Thymosin is. This is going to be our vital cornerstone next year. It is the ultimate assembly regulatory protein and biological modifier.’”
My Comment:
i. The players were legally entitled to expect that WADA’s attorneys wouldn’t omit or ignore evidence when making allegations against the players. In the 23 August 2011 text, the panel implied that Thymosin was the generic name for Thymosin Beta-4. Young and Rychener failed to mention and consider that Kogarah compounding pharmacist Maged Sedrak told the ASADA investigator that there were many varieties of Thymosin Beta and that he never used Thymosin Beta-4. Consequently, Young and Rychener misrepresented the evidence by implying Dank was referring to Thymosin Beta-4.
ii. Furthermore, although Dank was treating Dean Robinson’s injured weight-lifting wife and supplying her with peptides, Young and Rychener stated that in the 23 August text that Dank was talking about Essendon and not Robinson’s wife or Dank’s businesses MRC and ICB. Robinson hadn’t even signed a contract to work at Essendon at that time and Dank wasn’t even interviewed for a job at Essendon until 28 September 2011.
iii. In claiming Dank was talking about Essendon, there was no doubt Young and Rychener took advantage of ASADA’s principal investigator Aaron Walker planting evidence. At page 28 of his ‘Final Investigation Report’, Walker dishonestly planted evidence by tampering with the evidence by inserting the words “at Essendon” into the text. Such tampering was a breach of Section 317 of the Crimes Act – a breach that carried a ten-year custodial sentence.
Item (Young & Rychener) 12: “In the months prior to joining Essendon, Dank had participated in a Thymosin Beta-4 injection programme for a rugby league athlete. Sandor Earl, then a player for the Penrith Panthers of the National Rugby League (“NRL”), underwent shoulder reconstruction in June-July 2011. At the time, Dank was associated with the Penrith NRL club, and he participated actively in the post-surgical treatment of Earl’s shoulders by Dr Ijaz Khan.’ Dr Khan injected Thymosin Beta-4 into both of Earl’s shoulders. As Dank explained to his Essendon boss-to-be in a 2 August 2011 text message, ‘We are utilizing Thymosin post-surgically for one shoulder but prophylactically for the other. Thymosin is so effective in soft tissue maintenance.’”
My Comment:
i. Young and Rychener corruptly planted evidence by inserting the words ‘Mr Earl’ into the 2 August 2011 Dank text, which enabled it to falsely claim that there was evidence that Dank had administered Thymosin Beta-4 to Sandor Earl.
ii. WADA lied in stating that Dr Khan treated Earl with Thymosin Beta-4 injections. At line 9, page 113 of his 10 December 2013 interview with ASADA, Dr Khan was asked, “Is Thymosin a substance that you have prescribed?” Khan replied: “No, not at all. It’s not something I use.”
iii. At line 24, page 161 of his 10 December 2013 interview with ASADA, Dr Khan said: “I recall having discussions [a]round would be the use of Beta-4 Thymosin. And to the best of my recollection, I don’t think we used Beta-4.”
iv. Earl was never found guilty of using Thymosin Beta-4. On Wednesday, 14 October 2015, four weeks before WADA began the presentation of its case to the CAS panel, the NRL Anti-Doping Tribunal found Earl guilty of the following: Use of CJC-1295 (eight violations); Possession of CJC-1295; Trafficking in Somatropin; Trafficking in Clenbuterol; Attempted trafficking in Testosterone.
v. WADA stated that the 2 August 2011 text was about Earl. That was a blatant lie. WADA acknowledged that Earl had his left shoulder reconstructed in June 2011 and his right shoulder reconstructed in July 2011. Consequently, the text could not have been about Earl.
vi. The 2 August 2011 text refers to a patient who was utilising Thymosin post-surgically in one shoulder and prophylactically in the other shoulder. Prophylactically means a preventative measure. In the text, Dank was stating that he used Thymosin in one shoulder that had been reconstructed and he used Thymosin in the other shoulder. Dank could not have been referring to Earl as claimed by WADA.
vii. WADA tabled evidence that Maged Sedrak introduced the benefits of Thymosin to Dank. Sedrak told ASADA in his 20 November 2013 interview (lines 1 to 15, page 44) that he never prepared Thymosin Beta-4 for anyone and that he sold Thymosin to Dank for the first time in late August 2011 or September 2011.
Item (Young & Rychener) 13: “In late August and early September 2011, just weeks prior to his joining Essendon, Dank also helped obtain Thymosin Beta-4 treatments for two Cronulla Sharks NRL players who had suffered muscle injuries. Dank made arrangements for these Thymosin Beta-4 treatments through Maged Sedrak, a compounding pharmacist in Sydney. During the course of consulting on the treatment of the Cronulla players, Sedrak told Dank that Thymosin is the ‘fastest way [for] repair of muscle tissues’ and is ‘well known in the literature for its fast repair for tissues, you know, anti-inflammatory and repair for the tissues.’”
My Comment:
This was a lie. Young and Rychener perjured themselves. Dank did not help obtain Thymosin Beta-4 treatments for two Cronulla NRL players. Sedrak told the investigators that he supplied the two Cronulla players with ‘Thymosin’ and that he never ever prepared Thymosin Beta-4.
Item (Young & Rychener) 14: “Dank was present when Sedrak supplied Thymosin Beta-4 to one of the Cronulla players and heard Sedrak explain how to use the product.”
My Comment:
This was a lie.Young and Rychener perjured themselves. Sedrak told the investigators that he supplied the two Cronulla players with ‘Thymosin’ and that he never ever prepared Thymosin Beta-4.
Item (Young & Rychener) 15: “One of the first steps taken by Dank to implement the Essendon doping program was drawing and analysing blood samples from the Players. On two different occasions in November Dank arranged for blood samples to be drawn from the Players. The blood samples were drawn and analysed under Dank’s direction without the knowledge or for analysis to the club approval of Essendon’s club doctors.”
My Comment:
i. It was disingenuous for Young and Rychener to imply that having blood tested in November 2011 was evidence of players being administered Thymosin Beta-4 after February 2012.
ii. Young and Rychener were guilty of duplicity by implying the blood tests were linked to the use by Dank of Thymosin Beta-4. Beginning at line 6 on page 48 of the CAS transcript, ASADA counsel Knowles said: “Admittedly that test predates the injection regime, but for the reason that Mr Young explained, and admittedly it doesn’t relate to Thymosin Beta-4 …”
Item (Young & Rychener) 16: “These blood tests are consistent with recommendations from peptide clinics that “patients” have their blood tested before receiving a doctor’s script for peptides — in fact, one Australian peptide clinic that sold Thymosin Beta-4 specifically recommended testing blood samples for IGF-1” (AS-16 Mullaly affidavit page 150)
My Comment:
This was the comment of two desperate attorneys with no evidence to support their unsubstantiated allegations. Most doctors, most of the time, order blood tests before writing scripts. It doesn’t mean that they intended proscribing Thymosin Beta-4 to the patient.
Item (Young & Rychener) 17: “By November 2011, Dank also had established relationships with a raw materials supplier and compounding pharmacist to source Thymosin Beta-4 for the Essendon doping programme. Through Shane Charter, a convicted drug trafficker and biochemist known as ‘Dr. Ageless,’ Thymosin Beta-4 was obtained from a Chinese peptide supplier, GL Biochem. Dank and Charter arranged for the Thymosin Beta-4 to be compounded for injections by pharmacist, Nima Alavi, and his company Como Compounding Pharmacy.”
My Comment:
Young and Rychener have misrepresented the situation through omission. Charter’s agent in China picked up several different substances from G L Biochem in late December 2011 and took them to his office. He removed all the labels and placed the vials in the office fridge. One shelf was labelled Thymosin. The chain of custody was broken when Anthony removed the labels and placed them on the Thymosin shelf with other vials [of Thymosin]. Anthony subsequently removed a vial from the Thymosin shelf and sent it to Alavi. The vial was labelled ‘Thymosin’. As the substance was never tested, no one, including Young, Rychener, Dank, Alavi, Charter and the CAS panellists, knew whether it was Thymosin Alpha-1 / Thymomodulin, Thymosin Beta-4, Thymosin Beta-10, Thymosin Beta-15 or an unknown substance.
Item (Young & Rychener) 18: “In a 12 January 2012 email to Dank and Alavi, Charter provided detailed instructions for compounding and administering Thymosin Beta-4 through subcutaneous injection. Charter’s email, titled ‘Thymosin Beta 4’, begins with the message, ‘Steve just want to check you agree with the below so we can make it up accordingly.’ Within a week after Charter’s email, Como dispensed 26 vials of ‘peptide thymosin’ to Dank.”
My Comment:
Young and Rychener lied by claiming that “Como dispensed 26 vials of peptide thymosin to Dank. The email contained an attachment titled TB-500 (Thymosin Beta-4), which incorrectly implied that TB-500 and Thymosin Beta-4 were the same product. Young and Rychener knew, or should have known, the names were not interchangeable. The protocols listed on the document were not the protocols for Thymosin Beta-4. By claiming that the protocols were the same, Young and Rychener were planting evidence.
Item (Young & Rychener) 19: “In early February 2012, Dank held a secretive meeting with the Players. The Essendon club doctors were not invited to and did not attend this meeting. During this meeting, Dank asked the Players to sign forms consenting to the administration of four substances, including a specific regimen of Thymosin injections. The Thymosin injection regimen described in the player consent form matched the prescribed regimen from Charter’s prior ‘Thymosin Beta 4’ email to Dank.”
My Comment:
i. It was disingenuous of Young and Rychener to describe the 8 February 2012 meeting as secretive. There was no evidence that the meeting was conducted any differently from the scores and scores of player meetings in 2012.
ii. This was a major misrepresentation. The email contained an attachment titled TB-500 (Thymosin Beta-4), which incorrectly implied that TB-500 and Thymosin Beta-4 were the same product. Young and Rychener knew, or should have known, the names were not interchangeable. The protocols listed on the document were not the protocols for Thymosin Beta-4. By claiming that the protocols were the same, Young and Rychener were planting evidence
Item (Young & Rychener) 20: “The Players were informed the program would ‘enhance the rate of recovery and the benefits included an expected reduction in time required for performance recovery’. Dank told the Players the injection program would ‘push the edge’ and ‘was close to the line’.”
My Comment:
i. More bottom of the bird cage nonsense from Young and Rychener with respect to ‘push the edge’. If you are travelling in a car at 59 kilometres per hour in a 60 zone you are pushing the limit, but you are not breaking the law.
ii. Thymosin Beta-4 was the only substance under review. It was either prohibited or permitted. There wasn’t a third category ‘pushing the edge’. The WADA and ASADA websites indicated that Thymosin Beta-4 wasn’t banned in 2012. Second, there was no evidence that Dank had procured Thymosin Beta-4, let alone had administered it to a single player.
iii. Once again, Young and Rychener were duplicit in implying that Thymosin and Thymosin Beta-4 were the same product. They were dishonest in implying that Thymosin and Thymosin Beta-4 were the same product. They were dishonest in implying that Thymosin didn’t aid recovery from hard matches and tough workouts in the gym.
iv. Young disingenuously misrepresented the facts. He deceitfully implied throughout the CAS hearing that Thymosin Beta-4 was the only substance that aids recovery. Thymosin Alpha/Thymomodulin boosts the immune system, which aids recovery from exertion. When asked on 30 October 2013 by ASADA lawyer Emily Fitton (Question 18): “From your experience, what does Thymosin Alpha do? Is this substance athletics could use to enhance their performance?”
v. ASADA’s expert witness Shane Charter said: “This peptide has potential to improve the immune function in certain people. Athletes we know have times when the immune function is suppressed due to game day exertion or even pushing the body into over-reaching. So, theoretically, this could be of assistance to people that have URTI’s or similar immune issues. This is an indirect benefit to the athletes as if they are not sick, they can perform better.
vi At question 19 on the same date, Fitton asked Charter: “From your experience, what does Thymosin Beta-4? Is this substance athletics could use to enhance their performance?” If so, why? Charter responded: “The main benefits marketed for this product and with some scientific literatures are around the reduction in the inflammatory response, thus quicker healing from injury. Also, the possible benefit of increased tissue and less scar tissue or adhesions.
Item (Young & Rychener) 21: “No player disclosed the Thymosin injections on the doping control form.”
My Comment:
This was an outrageous allegation that proved Young and Rychener’s incompetence or chicanery. In 2011, the WADA Code stated that athletes were only required to consider (my emphasis) declaring substances on their doping control forms they had been administered. Although it wasn’t compulsory, Young and Rychener stated it was compulsory. Tragically, for the players, this chicanery deceived the inept CAS panellists into believing the players were dishonest, and therefore had something to hide, by not disclosing Thymosin injections on the doping control form.
Item (Young & Rychener) 22: “In an exchange of text messages with Essendon’s coach, James Hird, on 9 March 2012, Dank stated, ‘I.V. start next week. And Thymosin with Ubiquinone. We will start to see some real effect’.”
My Comment:
i. Young and Rychener once again implied that Thymosin was the generic name for Thymosin Beta-4. It was not, as evidence byASADA’s science and results manager Dr Stephen Watt On 3 July 2012, email to WADA. Watt said: “I wanted to enquire if WADA has considered the prohibited status of the drug Thymomodulin also known as Thymosin.” Nothing could be more certain, ASADA’s official position agreed with Dank’s that Thymosin was the generic name for the permitted Thymomodulin.
ii. On 28 March 2012, Dank sent player Michael Hurley a text as follows: “I was going to IV you, Thymomodulin you and Lactaway you.” On a few occasions, Dank told a few players he was administering Thymosin because it was an immune booster and would help them recover from strenuous workouts. As the substance Dank was referring to was never tested no one, including Dank, WADA and the three CAS tribunal members knows what was in the vials. Subsequently, ASADA’s lead investigator Aaron Walker declared at clause 93 of his 15 January 2015 affidavit that he had no evidence that Dank or Essendon ever took possession of Thymosin of any variety. Furthermore, WADA never alleged that Thymosin Beta-4 was an immune booster.
Item (Young & Rychener) 23: “The next day, on 12 April 2012 Dank sent a text to Hird confirming, “All IV and injections completed. Again, on 19 April 2012, Dank reported, ‘All injections completed for the week’. In subsequent text messages exchanges in April through July 2012. In subsequent text messages Dank checked with various players to make sure they were staying current with their Thymosin injections.”
My Comment:
This section can only be described as WADA corruption. WADA has said Dank informed Hird on the 9 March 2012 that he was commencing Thymosin injections, which WADA claimed, without any evidence, were Thymosin Beta-4 injections. And on 19 April 2012, WADA was claiming that Dank informed Hird that all [Thymosin] injections were completed. To create this chicanery, WADA deliberately omitted eight key words from Dank’s 19 April text. Those omitted words were: “This afternoon’s group went very well on hyperbaric.” (my emphasis). Dank was not informing Hird of Thymosin injections. He was informing Hird that the injections given to the players at HyperMED, Cerebrolysin and Amino Lite (amino acids), had been completed. It is incomprehensible and unconscionable that WADA omitted those eight words from the text to create false evidence that the players had been administered Thymosin Beta-4.
Item (Young & Rychener) 24: “On 9 May 2012, Como’s senior lab technician, Vania Giordani, tested this material using the facilities and equipment at Bio-21Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute, a research institute at Melbourne University. The test results obtained by Giordani helped confirm the parties’ belief that the substance was Thymosin Beta-4. Two days after she tested the material, in a text dated 11 May 2012, Giordani informed Dank, ‘Just to let you know that your 15 vials of thymosin are ready to pick up.’”
My Comment:
i. Young and Rychener misrepresented the evidence by omission. The 15 vials were never delivered to Dank / Essendon – a fact confirmed by ASADA’s head investigator Aaron Walker at clause 93 of his 15 January 2015 affidavit and Como Compounding Pharmaceuticals dispatch and stock records.
ii. Incomprehensively, and unconscionably, Young and Rychener lied, and therefore perjured themselves, by stating unequivocally that the vials were delivered to Dank. Rychener said (page 813 of the CAS Hearing transcript): “Right. So, the question is, was he injecting players from those brown vials after May 11 when they were delivered. Based on contemporaneous records, we know Dank received vials of ThymosinBeta-4 from Como in January and May.” There were no records indicating that the 15 vials were ever delivered. In fact, Como’s stock records prove that they were never delivered. Furthermore, ASADA’s response to my FOI (20-4) request proved that Thymosin Beta-4 was never delivered to Dank or Essendon.
iii. Young also lied(page 810, lines 41 to 43 of the CAS hearing transcript) when he said: “One ofthe emails that thetwoplayersreferredtoabout ThymomodulinwasinJuneafterthe delivery of the15vials fromVania [Giordani].”There was no evidence that Vania Giordani or anyone else delivered 15 vials to Dank or Essendon. In fact, Como Compounding stock and dispatch records prove that no such delivery took place.
Item (Young & Rychener) 25: “Notwithstanding Dank’s efforts to improve the team’s performance with his doping programme, Essendon lost seven straight games to end the 2012 season.”
My Comment:
Young and Rychener, neither of who knew anything about AFL football, disingenuous accepted that Essendon’s success at the start of the season was because of the administration of a substance for soft tissue injuries that didn’t exist at that time. Here, Young and Rychener appear to make a claim that an unknown substance caused losses at the end of the season.
Item (Young & Rychener) 26: “In March 2013, Dean Robinson, Dank’s boss at Essendon, told ASADA investigators he believed Dank had administered Thymosin via injection to the Players.”
My Comment:
i. Once again, Young and Rychener were disingenuously implying that Thymosin and Thymosin Beta-4 were interchangeable. The evidence and WADA’s expert witness proved they were not interchangeable. Furthermore, the evidence proved that neither Dank nor Essendon took possession of Thymosin of any variety.
ii. On 15 June 2012, Robinson sent an email to key staff, including Dr Reid, stating that [the permitted] Thymomodulin would be administered to players once a week until the end of the season.
iii. Young and Rychener were dishonestly cherry-picking Robinson’s evidence. They deliberately omitted mentioning that in his 8 August 2013 interview Robinson said: “I don’t know more than Thymosin or Thymomodulin. That’s all I know about this. I don’t know exactly what it is. I can’t give you anymore. I wish I could… to make this clear, because I know this has come up. I have never heard of Thymosin Beta-4.
Item (Young & Rychener) 27: “Approximately one month later, in a recorded interview [with Nick McKenzie] in April 2013, Dank acknowledged the Players had used Thymosin Beta-4. When the interviewer asked was there any indication Thymosin Beta-4 had helped the Players, Dank stated his belief it contributed to Essendon’s wining eleven of its first fourteen matches. McKenzie confronted Dank with the observation that the ASADA website listed Thymosin Beta-4 as a prohibited substance. Dank responded, ‘Well, that must have only just come in this year and I will get someone to speak to ASADA about that. That’s just mind-blowing.’ Dank also provided his opinion that Thymosin Beta-4 could not be banned retrospectively.”
My Comment:
i. Here Young and Rychener were claiming that in a 1 April 2013 interview with Nick McKenzie of the Age, Dankadmitted using TB-4 on the players. This was another example of them cherry-picking by omitting favourable evidence to the players.
ii. In four articles, Age journalist Nick McKenzie quoted comments made by Dank in their 1 April 2013 interview. In the first article (11 April 2013) McKenzie quoted Dank saying he used Thymosin as an immune booster. In subsequent articles, McKenzie replaced the word Thymosin with Thymosin Beta-4 while still stating it was an immune booster. Clearly, no one could be comfortably satisfied as to what word Dank used with McKenzie.
iii. Unconscionably, and in a blatant breach of the law, WADA did not table the 11 April 2013 favourable article to the players in discovery. That was a major breach of WADA’s legal responsibilities. Unconscionably, ASADA, without out any valid reason, refused my FOI request for a copy of the audio of the Dank/McKenzie interview.
iv. Dank was also correct in stating that if Thymosin Beta-4 were banned, it was criminally ‘banned’ by ASADA in on 4 February 2013. The ASADA website indicates it was banned between 10:34:17am and 12:59:17pm on Monday 4 February 2013. WADA added Thymosin Beta-4 by name to its prohibited list on 1 January 2018.