Australian Rules football said Wednesday it was reviewing its illicit drugs policy after a whistleblower aired claims of widespread cocaine use among players.
Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the Australian Football League — one of the country’s most popular spectator sports — was “secretly” manipulating drug tests.
Wilkie claimed that players would be urged to fake an injury if they were at risk of testing positive for drugs on game day.
League boss Andrew Dillon denied the AFL had a drug problem, saying it impacted only “a very small handful of players” each year.
“We are reviewing the illicit drugs policy. The review is ongoing but (we) are hopeful to have it updated this year,” he told reporters.
Dillon conceded that doctors would occasionally keep players off the field if they suspected they had taken drugs.
“We are unapologetic about club and AFL doctors taking the correct steps to ensure that any player who they believe has an illicit substance in their system does not take part in any AFL match,” he said.
Wilkie is a renowned whistleblower. He resigned from a top government intelligence agency in the early 2000s so he could speak out against Australia’s role in the Iraq War.
“The allegations are credible and detailed and provided in signed statements which have been given to me and which clearly identify the sources of the information,” Wilkie said in parliament late Tuesday.
“The AFL wants a player to play at all costs, and so the cover-up begins.
“If there are no illegal drugs in the player’s system, they are free to play.
“If there are drugs in their system, the player is often asked to fake an injury.”
Players were told to “lie about their condition” while the tests were hidden from Sport Integrity Australia and the World Anti-Doping Agency, Wilkie said.
Earlier this week, two players from the Sydney Swans women’s side were stood down after they were caught buying cocaine.
“I am fully aware I have made a bad error of judgement and will be working hard to earn back the respect of my teammates,” player Paige Sheppard said.
A game similar to Ireland’s Gaelic football, Australian Rules is hugely popular in the country, boasting hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue each year.
The league has in recent years been dogged by claims of racism against Indigenous players.
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