The father of banned Demons player Joel Smith has again implored the AFL to revamp its illicit drugs policy and outsource the job to an independent body.
His comments came the morning after Sports Integrity Australia (SIA) released findings of a report following investigations into bombshell claims in federal parliament by MP Andrew Wilkie.
It was in March when Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to accuse the AFL and its clubs of operating an off-the-books drug testing scheme, which allowed players to avoid game-day tests and possible punishment under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.
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On advice from a former Melbourne Demons doctor, Wilkie alleged players were being secretly tested during the week and if they tested positive to a banned substance, were advised to fake an injury or illness so they couldn’t be tested on game day.
The SIA report on Monday found no evidence to support those allegations.
The AFL has maintained its drugs policy is focused on dissuading players from taking illicit drugs – including recreational substances – rather than punishing them and the their teams through suspensions.
Smith is a rare case of an AFL player being banned for drugs charges.
Smith tested positive to cocaine on game day in August. Following an investigation he was subsequently served three additional Ant-Doping Rule Violations by SIA in February for alleged “trafficking or attempted trafficking” of cocaine to third parties.
In an anti-doping context, trafficking may include an athlete “selling, delivering or distributing” any prohibited substance. The allegations are not criminal in nature.
His father Shaun – a former first grade footballer himself – has been steadfast in his belief Joel has been made a scapegoat for a wider problem within the league.
“There is commentary out there saying he is an isolated incident and all this, which is just not correct,” Shaun Smith told Today in a new interview on Tuesday.
“(Drug use is) rife through society, the AFL has a big problem and they’ve obviously been doing everything they can to cover it up with off-the-books testing.
“What I think the AFL needs to do is scrap the whole (drugs policy) and start again. It’s obviously not working, it is tainted with lots of non-transparency.
“They need to start again and get an outside independent person to do it, not do it in-house.”
Shaun Smith was still grappling with the SIA findings that there had been no wrongdoing from the AFL or its clubs.
“I’m still trying to process it at the moment,” he said.
“The AFL got away with a bit of a loophole in testing, it wasn’t done on game day, and it doesn’t seem they’ve intervened with the rules of the anti-doping.
“To me that’s not right. They came out a while ago and said the are unapologetic about doing the testing themselves, which I found astounding.”
Joel Smith has been provisionally suspended and is yet to return to the Demons since his positive test.
The AFL has committed to releasing an updated drugs policy this year.