Round 20
Collingwood v SwansSCG 7mate / Fox Footy 7:30pm Weather: Min 9 Max 19 Chance of rain 20%: <1mm Wind: SSE 17kph Betting: Collingwood $3.55 Swans $1.30 |
The duo tested positive to banned substance clenbuterol earlier this year, and have chosen not to contest the charges against them.
The bans are backdated to March this year.
The substance is regularly used as a cutting agent with illicit drugs.
Both players said today they did not take the drug knowingly.
The pair admitted they took illicit drugs the night before the test on February 10, and believe the substance that they consumed was “laced with clenbuterol”.
“On the 10th of February we tested positive to clenbuterol,” Thomas said.
“While we cannot be absolutely certain ... (we believe it is a result of the night before) prior to testing when we took illicit drugs. While we can’t be sure, we think the substance we took was laced with clenbuterol.
“We acknowledge we made an error in judgement
“We would never knowingly take performance enhancing drugs.”
Keeffe said he hoped other players would learn from his mistake.
“We hope an error of judgement does not become a life sentence,” Keeffe said.
“Having worked so hard to build AFL careers, we are now committed to starting again. We hope to regain everyone’s trust.”
Magpies CEO Gary Pert said both players would be delisted by the club but they would be redrafted as rookies if they are available in this year’s draft.
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| Lachlan Keeffe |
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| Josh Thomas |
“Any Australian sportsperson or AFL footballer is taking a new risk that they weren’t aware of, and I think that will have a huge impact.”
The pair were handed infraction notices on July 29 after positive drug tests on February 10, the night after the pair attended the St Kilda festival.
Magpies defender Nathan Brown last month threw his support behind his exiled teammates.
“We’d love to have them around — whether it be through a rookie list situation or if they have time off and we have them back at the club or something like that,” Brown said.
“They’re fantastic guys and I know that whatever their mistakes are in the past, going forward they’d be fantastic at the club if that was to happen.”
Only the AFL’s delay in adopting the new WADA drug code in January has spared them mandatory four-year bans which apply under this year’s new code.
Club Statement
Collingwood Chief Executive Officer Gary Pert read the following statement to the nation's media, following statements from Lachlan Keeffe and Josh Thomas on Monday morning:
As you have just heard from the players, they will not be contesting the ASADA findings or sanctions.
This means the players will be suspended from all sport in Australia for two years, backdated to March 2015.
The Collingwood Football Club has decided in response to this announcement to delist both players. They have also had a portion of their 2015 contracts withheld as required by the AFL and WADA, sums which amount to a fine of approximately $50,000 each.
This figure has been agreed to by the players and their representatives.
The Collingwood Football Club has advised both players that if they choose to nominate for the National Draft at the end of this season Collingwood will redraft them as rookies, if they are still available to us.
At this point, I would like to clarify the view of the board and the club leadership around this incident.
We accept that Josh and Lachlan did not intentionally take performance enhancing drugs and they did not knowingly consume Clenbuterol.
We accept that this was a case of two young men who made poor decisions to consume illicit drugs, decisions they will regret for the rest of their lives.
Their decisions will cost them two years of playing AFL football, a game they love and have dreamed of playing since they were boys. It will ultimately cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars and damage their reputations.
They have let down their families and team-mates and, after a two year break, there are no guarantees that they will play AFL football again but we are certainly hopeful that they do.
They are good people who have made a bad decision that we believe is not part of a pattern of behaviour for these individuals. Our commitment to redraft them says much about our regard for them.
We also believe that the best thing we can do for them is to provide a light at the end of the tunnel, a chance to rekindle their football careers.
To this end, Lachlan and Josh will participate in a targeted AFL drug testing program at the discretion of the club as they are determined to rebuild their careers and their reputations.
As everyone would be aware, this six-month investigation has been conducted by ASADA in conjunction with the AFL. The Collingwood Football Club has cooperated fully whenever asked but has largely been a bystander.
During our various discussions with Josh, Lachlan, their legal representatives, their managers, ASADA, the AFL and other relevant internal and external parties, we have had to observe strict confidentialities.
It would not have been possible to establish the facts without first agreeing to confidentiality, which allowed all parties to speak freely and for us to gather a complete, and we believe accurate, picture of this ordeal.
The undertakings given to receive this information will continue to be honoured.
So what have we learned from this as a club?
That the review of the AFL’s Illicit Drug Policy that is underway is not only warranted but change is necessary. We want to be preventing problems, not solving them.
There must be a greater level of accountability and consequence for players if they are detected taking illicit drugs. I remind everyone that Lachlan and Josh made decisions to take illicit drugs, not performance enhancing drugs, on the assumption that even if detected they would only receive a strike without sanction and their identities would have remained anonymous.This is clearly not a big enough deterrent. We need to have an industry policy that has a consequence big enough to convince all players to say no.
We have also learned that the clubs need to be an inside part of any new IDP regime.No-one in the game has a greater investment in, or concern for, their players than the clubs. In terms of helping a player with a problem, of any description, the clubs are in a unique and privileged position to help. This position, at present, is ignored.
The fourth and arguably most important thing we have learned is that there is no longer a separation between illicit and performance enhancing drugs.Anyone in our game who chooses to consume illicit drugs must also, from now on, accept that they may also be consuming performance enhancing drugs.
The events that have brought us here today, I believe, amount to a turning point for our code and more broadly, for Australian sport. A new reality exists for athletes across Australia following today’s outcome.
The decision to take an illicit drug which, up until now, would have held no consequences in some sports and in the AFL seen an anonymous strike recorded could now result in a major sanction or the end of your career.
The game changes for athletes as of today.
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