Essendon Football Club supplements saga
Timeline of major events

Essendon Football Club supplements saga

Section Title: Timeline of major events
Table Section Text: None

Date	Event	Notes

November 2011	A new supplements program, administered by biochemist Stephen Dank, begins at the Essendon Football Club.

January 2012	Concerns about the program are raised to club management by doctor Bruce Reid.

May 2012	Club administrators direct Dank to cease the injection program, but this request is not followed.

September 2012	Dank is dismissed from Essendon.

5 February 2013	Essendon self-reports over concerns that illicit substances were administered during the supplements program.

7 February 2013	The Australian Crime Commission releases the findings of a 12-month investigation into the integrity of Australian sport and the relationship between professional sporting bodies, prohibited substances and organised crime.

7 February 2013	The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) and the AFL initiate a joint investigation into the Essendon supplements program.

27 February 2013	Essendon announced an independent review to be conducted by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski into the governance of its supplements program.

22 April 2013	The World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) officially clarifies its position that AOD-9604 is a banned substances; ASADA later determines that it will not prosecute cases of its use prior to this date.

6 May 2013	Switkowski's independent review into the governance of Essendon's supplements program was released to the public. It highlighted governance failures and uncontrolled changes to the way in which the club's player conditioning program was operated after August 2011.

2 August 2013	ASADA releases its interim report on Essendon's supplements program to the AFL.

13 August 2013	The AFL announced that the Essendon Football Club, senior coach James Hird and other parties were to be charged over governance and duty-of-care breaches related to the program.

22 August 2013	James Hird lodged an action against the charges in the Supreme Court of Victoria.

27 August 2013	Following talks between the AFL and the accused parties, the AFL announces that the Essendon Football Club would be ineligible to play in the 2013 AFL finals series, would lose first and second round draft picks in the 2013 and 2014 AFL drafts and receive a $2 million fine.

12 June 2014	ASADA issues show cause notices to 34 players on Essendon's 2012 player list, alleging the use of banned peptide Thymosin Beta-4.

13 June 2014	Essendon and James Hird each launched a Federal Court application challenging the legality of the AFL/ASADA joint investigative process.

19 September 2014	Justice John Middleton ruled that the AFL/ASADA's joint investigation was lawful.

17 October 2014	ASADA issues fresh show cause notices to the thirty-four players for use of thymosin beta-4.

13 November 2014	The Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel placed the 34 players on the register of findings.

14 November 2014	the AFL issued infraction notices to the thirty-four players for use of Thymosin beta-4. Most players immediately accept provisional suspensions until their AFL Tribunal hearing (some defer the start of their suspensions until later).

Dec 2014 – Feb 2015	The AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal hearing for the thirty-four players takes place over several sessions.

31 March 2015	The AFL Tribunal announces that all 34 past and present Essendon players were found not guilty of using a banned supplement.

20 April 2015	ASADA announces that it will not appeal the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal's ruling finding all 34 past and present Essendon players not guilty.

11 May 2015	WADA announces it will appeal the tribunal's not guilty decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

26 June 2015	Stephen Dank is found guilty and handed a lifetime ban for his role in the saga.

16 November 2015	WADA's appeal of the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal's not guilty decision begins being heard at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Sydney.

12 January 2016	CAS upholds WADA's appeal and finds the 34 Essendon footballers guilty of doping code violations. The players were suspended for two years backdated to 31 March 2015.

10 February 2016	The thirty-four players lodged an appeal against the CAS finding in the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.

11 October 2016	The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland dismisses the players' appeal against the CAS guilty verdict.

28 November 2016	AFL Anti-Doping Appeal Board dismissed Stephen Dank's appeal against his life ban for multiple doping offences after he failed to provide detailed evidence for his absence from his hearing on 21 November 2016.

Sentence(s)

The position of WADA was that AOD-9604 had been considered a banned substance, and it clarified this to ASADA on April 22, 2013.

final_sentence: The position of WADA was that AOD-9604 had been considered a banned substance, and it clarified this to ASADA on April 22, 2013.