Drugs, crime links rock Australian sports
Source: Agencies |
February 8, 2013, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
THE widespread drug use by elite athletes and links with organized crime uncovered in a year-long government investigation have rocked a nation that prides itself on its sporting achievements and its collective notion of fair play.
"The findings are shocking and will disgust Australian sports fans," Justice Minister Jason Clare said as he fronted a news conference in Canberra to reveal that "multiple athletes from a number of clubs" in the big professional leagues are suspected of using or having used performance enhancing substances.
The Australian Crime Commission released the findings of "Project Aperio" yesterday, saying there was evidence of at least one potential case of match-fixing, widespread use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs, and the infiltration of organized criminal groups in the distribution of performance and image enhancing drugs.
The country's two most popular sports competitions, the Aussie rules' Australian Football League and the National Rugby League, have already acknowledged they're working with the ACC and have launched independent investigations. Other high-profile sports are doing the same. A state police force has suspicions about a recent soccer match which attracted heavy betting and seemingly unusual attention from Asia.
"This is the blackest day in Australian sport," Richard Ings, the former chief of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency, said.
Illicit drug use by professional athletes was more common in the bigger sports than current drugs testing programs suggested, the ACC report noted, adding that some coaches, sports scientists and support staff had "orchestrated and/or condoned the use of prohibited substances" that sometimes weren't even cleared for use on humans.
The ACC revelations come in the same week that prominent AFL club Essendon asked authorities to investigate the use of certain supplements used in its 2012 fitness program, and European police agency Europol revealed evidence of hundreds of cases of match fixing in soccer around the world.
World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey, who has served as a state and federal politician in Australia, said he was alarmed but not surprised by the ACC report's findings. "I think it tells us how wide (and) how deep this problem is, in a country that prides itself on fair play we've got a problem of the nature we've heard of today," Fahey said.
"The findings are shocking and will disgust Australian sports fans," Justice Minister Jason Clare said as he fronted a news conference in Canberra to reveal that "multiple athletes from a number of clubs" in the big professional leagues are suspected of using or having used performance enhancing substances.
The Australian Crime Commission released the findings of "Project Aperio" yesterday, saying there was evidence of at least one potential case of match-fixing, widespread use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs, and the infiltration of organized criminal groups in the distribution of performance and image enhancing drugs.
The country's two most popular sports competitions, the Aussie rules' Australian Football League and the National Rugby League, have already acknowledged they're working with the ACC and have launched independent investigations. Other high-profile sports are doing the same. A state police force has suspicions about a recent soccer match which attracted heavy betting and seemingly unusual attention from Asia.
"This is the blackest day in Australian sport," Richard Ings, the former chief of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency, said.
Illicit drug use by professional athletes was more common in the bigger sports than current drugs testing programs suggested, the ACC report noted, adding that some coaches, sports scientists and support staff had "orchestrated and/or condoned the use of prohibited substances" that sometimes weren't even cleared for use on humans.
The ACC revelations come in the same week that prominent AFL club Essendon asked authorities to investigate the use of certain supplements used in its 2012 fitness program, and European police agency Europol revealed evidence of hundreds of cases of match fixing in soccer around the world.
World Anti-Doping Agency president John Fahey, who has served as a state and federal politician in Australia, said he was alarmed but not surprised by the ACC report's findings. "I think it tells us how wide (and) how deep this problem is, in a country that prides itself on fair play we've got a problem of the nature we've heard of today," Fahey said.
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