After more than three years of being dragged before
courts and a tribunal, on 12th January 2016, the Essendon Football
Club and its 34 former and current players were banned for taking
performance-enhancing drugs.
In the verdict, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld
an appeal by the World AntiDoping Agency, effectively banning 34
players for the 2016 Season, after they were originally cleared of
wrongdoing by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal.
The Decision
The CAS found to its "comfortable satisfaction" (being
the required standard of proof) that the relevant clause of the AFL
Doping Code "use of a prohibited substance" had been
violated and the players were significantly at fault. On 28 January
2016, Essendon was also found guilty for criminal breaches of the
Occupational Health and Safety Act and fined $200,000.00
across two offences.
