AFL silent on review of Bombers’ saga

AFL chief Gillon McLachlan and chairman Mike Fitzpatrick. Picture: Nicole Garmston Source: News Corp Australia

THE findings of an internal review into the AFL's handling of the Essendon drugs scandal remain a mystery — 13 months after it was announced.

An AFL Commission-led probe into how the league dealt with the saga was trumpeted by former league boss Andrew Demetriou in February last year.

Asked about the progress of the review on Monday, an AFL spokesman said: "This review is ongoing in light of the fact that the Essendon matter is ongoing.

"It would be inappropriate to finalise any sort of review while the Essendon matter is still to be resolved."

Quizzed on the review last April, AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said: 'I've got a very good sense of the shape of it, but it would be a bit premature to announce it today".

Last August, the AFL said it would release the review's findings at the completion of Essendon's Federal Court fight against the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

The court stoush officially ended on Friday when Bombers coach James Hird opted not to seek special leave to appeal his case against ASADA to the High Court of Australia.

The AFL anti-doping tribunal will hand down its verdict in ASADA's two-year pursuit of 34 former and current Essendon players later this month.

Demetriou in 2013 hailed the AFL-ASADA joint investigation into Essendon as the "template" of future drugs probes.

But his replacement, Gillon McLachlan, has conceded lessons over process and transparency have been learnt.

"You wouldn't do it the same way," McLachlan said last year.

The AFL review followed a series of revelations surrounding backroom dealings between the former Gillard government, AFL executives and ASADA officials throughout the Essendon investigation.

"We always review what we do and the commission has undertaken to review the length of time the entire investigation took and a number of the issues," Demetriou said when announcing the review last February.

The AFL handed down unprecedented penalties for governance breaches, which included removing Essendon from the 2013 finals series, in August 2013

It was revealed in December 2013 that Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie had been drafted in, with the approval of Fitzpatrick, to help convince Hird to accept a 12-month AFL-imposed ban.

Hird was offered a series of inducements including "an outstanding career development opportunity'' in return for dropping legal action against the league.

Originally published as AFL silent on review of Bombers' saga

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