The AFL doping saga plummeted the Essendon Bombers to new depths last Tuesday morning when the Swiss based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the appeal by the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) against the AFL’s own anti-doping tribunal which cleared 34 current and former Essendon players of doping offences.
The 34 players are alleged to have taken part in a supplements program in 2012, involving the injection of a banned peptide, Thymosin Beta 4.
The decision by CAS and the subsequent bans to the players involved have thrown the Bombers into a nose dive for season 2016.
Twelve of its current list, including Brownlow medal winner Jobe Watson and Brent Stanton are on the banned list, whilst five former Bombers currently at other AFL clubs also receive a ban. All players have been slapped with a two year ban backdated to March 2015, meaning that most will be out of action until at least November 2016.
One current Essendon player who is not on the list is David Zaharakis. Zaharakis’s aversion to needles means that he did not take part in the 2012 supplements injection program that has since dogged the club.
Speaking to the Herald Sun some months ago, prior to the latest CAS ruling, Zaharakis opened up about the wearying effect of the drug scandal on players and their families.