Saad hearing 5pm today...

[Megamaguire]

Remember this stuff is legal any other day of the week, you just can't take it game day.

Exactly.
If Saad is that dumb then tough luck. Rules are rules.
Just delist him now and let's move on.

.

I have to say the 'dumbness' in this situation would not surprise me if it extended to the club's processes/ duty of care.
We are talking about career ending here for one slip up. Added to this Saad admitted the slip up. I would really like to know the detail regarding our club's guidence to the players on legally available 'power' drinks like the one Saad sipped from.

In my own eyes the asada honchos appear far more interested in 'looking tough' in their'insistance' that the maximum penalty 'MUST' be played out. I honestly believe the asada motivation is more headline grabbing and far less interested in the education of sports people. When you think of the controversial afl policy for some tolerance reg:players taking illegal drugs
(dope and whatever else is part of the 3 strikes 'policy') it just makes the asada grandstanding look like the strategy of show ponies.
I'm not opposed to the AFL 3 strikes policy - I think it is partly motivated by education of players as opposed to a zero tolerance approach.
Young Ahmed wasn't injecting, let alone injecting regularly with illegal and performance enhancing drugs. From what I have heard Ahmed shared a one-off swig from a mate's bottle and then admitted it. Still the maximum punishment should be applied! Really? This is fair and reasonable? The asada strategy to me looks like a bunch of people trying to look indispensible and justifiably at the forefront of people's consciousness regarding the big issue of drugs in sport.

Another thing I haven't heard mentioned - did Ahmed consume this drink pre-game ?
Just one of a few questions I think should be out in the public arena so we can all have a more informed opinion as regards the performance of asada and our own St.Kilda club in this farcicle situation. I believe just like the players and the clubs asada 'must' be held up to close scrutiny in regard to their operating and decision-making processes. For mine asada seem to make decisions way too arbitrarily and seem out of whack from what many of us see as 'natural justice ' and sound decision-making.

GO SAINTS!

[stinger]

I really feel for the guy. His whole life is turned upside down and he would be under extreme pressure. It's disgraceful how many are calling him stupid or similar. Lucky no one of you have ever made a mistake. Viking should get sued if they are sponsoring a player and providing stuff outside the ASADA rules to a professional athlete.

I hope we can get him a minimum sentence and have him back in late 2014. Good luck Saady.

sorry...but his actiond were dumb...the club were gobsmacked when he told them what he had drunk....

[magnifisaint]

You think he'll be suing the sports energy company for two years of lost wages

[vacuous space]

In my own eyes the asada honchos appear far more interested in 'looking tough' in their'insistance' that the maximum penalty 'MUST' be played out.

ASADA are a bunch of lunatics. That should have plain when they intervened in that VFL case last year. In Saad's case we've got a guy who did the wrong thing, owned up to it and they're still treating him like a HGH user. They're actually arguing that his admission should count against him. Because God forbid a government funded agency avoid a lengthy hearing with a sensible negotiated settlement.

I'm not buying that they're letting Essendon go either. It's just not consistent behaviour from that agency. I think they dream at night of handing out infraction notices to half a club and going for the maximum penalty. They're zealots who as of yet have shown no compassion. They have a running log of their scalps on their website. The only reason they haven't hammered Essendon is because they've got nothing.

The AFL did a much better job of dealing with Essendon than ASADA did. Any reason we can't keep this stuff in house like other pro sports do?

Regardless of what happens though, Saad's fate with this club is sealed. He will be suspended, he will be deregistered and his contract will be voided. Whether it's a year, two years or somewhere in between, it's unlikely we ever see him here again.

I hope he goes and punts in the States and earns more money than Roo. Because screw ASADA.

[Jacks Back]

Why should a guy who takes one sip from a drink bottle and admits it be dealt with in the same way as someone else who has been systematically doping and lying about it for ages? With ARSADA they both get two years! Really?

Surely blind Freddy can see that these are two totally different acts? Kind of like a bitch slap compared to a murder.

[gringo]

If ASADA cut off the arm of a pick pocket they don't have to deal with the corrupt government above them. They would be better off giving up policing caffeine and pissy little things and spend money on policing the proper PSDs and getting in technology to monitor the latest concoctions. They are a waste of time and don't really reflect the current world.

[seano1]

funny thing is while he drank a drink that you can buy from the front of the counter essendon players were INJECTED with stuff from well behind the counter and not available in any fitness shop...........and the winner is essendon

[Lyon Tamer]

It has been mentioned by someone on Bigfooty that the club warned Saad about these drinks, but he did adhere to their advise. IF that's true, that changes things...

[satchmo]

The rules are tough, but they need to be. In order to take out all the excuses that people will use if they are given the opportunity. This puts the onus completely on the player. Otherwise they will take all the drugs they like and claim they didn't know/ it was a mistake etc..

The difficulty and difference with the effendum case is that they claim no one actually knows what they took, and they didn't return positive tests. It is unlikely that WADA/ASADA will let this go unpunished, but they will take as much time as is necessary to get all the evidence, and at least one of the key players has so far avoided being interviewed.

[falka]

It does seem like natural justice isnt the priority.

But you know what, rules are there, the AFL and the AFL PA obviously agreed to these rules.

The amount of tears you cry, shouldnt matter, otherwise you load up on HGH and then cry and say you thought they were vitamins.

Feel for Saad, and this level of incident doesnt fit the penalty, but he has blown a big career through stupidity.

His wife will be nagging him to get a real job now, maybe as a sales rep for the energy drink company.

[gringo]

It does seem like natural justice isnt the priority.

But you know what, rules are there, the AFL and the AFL PA obviously agreed to these rules.

The amount of tears you cry, shouldnt matter, otherwise you load up on HGH and then cry and say you thought they were vitamins.

Feel for Saad, and this level of incident doesnt fit the penalty, but he has blown a big career through stupidity.

His wife will be nagging him to get a real job now, maybe as a sales rep for the energy drink company.

Except he gets the same penalty for a can of energy drink as some one who has gone and injected HGH he got from underworld figures. Like getting a 10 year gaol sentence for parking in a no standing zone. Stupid rules need challenging.

[falka]

I agree, we should piss ASADA off, but AFL wants the government funding, so we play the rules.

Seriously, if the AFL needs funding, then we are all screwed.

[Kickit]

I agree, we should piss ASADA off, but AFL wants the government funding, so we play the rules.

Seriously, if the AFL needs funding, then we are all screwed.

THe AFL will not want to stand out and say, we are better than every other code and we don't need the WADA/ASADA system. It would label them as a league of druggies.

[dragit]

I agree, we should piss ASADA off, but AFL wants the government funding, so we play the rules.

Seriously, if the AFL needs funding, then we are all screwed.

THe AFL will not want to stand out and say, we are better than every other code and we don't need the WADA/ASADA system. It would label them as a league of druggies.

We would never have even heard about the Essendon scandal if the AFL were running their own anti-doping program.

[Dave McNamara]

The rules are tough, but they need to be. In order to take out all the excuses that people will use if they are given the opportunity. This puts the onus completely on the player. Otherwise they will take all the drugs they like and claim they didn't know/ it was a mistake etc..

The difficulty and difference with the effendum case is that they claim no one actually knows what they took, and they didn't return positive tests. It is unlikely that WADA/ASADA will let this go unpunished, but they will take as much time as is necessary to get all the evidence, and at least one of the key players has so far avoided being interviewed.

Plus one.

IMHO this is a very succinct and insightful summation of the situation 'Mo.

And, if the claims are correct re Ahmed having been previously warned-off the stuff by the club... then what was he thinking???

[stinger]

It does seem like natural justice isnt the priority.

But you know what, rules are there, the AFL and the AFL PA obviously agreed to these rules.

The amount of tears you cry, shouldnt matter, otherwise you load up on HGH and then cry and say you thought they were vitamins.

Feel for Saad, and this level of incident doesnt fit the penalty, but he has blown a big career through stupidity.

His wife will be nagging him to get a real job now, maybe as a sales rep for the energy drink company.

Except he gets the same penalty for a can of energy drink as some one who has gone and injected HGH he got from underworld figures. Like getting a 10 year gaol sentence for parking in a no standing zone. Stupid rules need challenging.

our very own Schapelle Corby, eh?

[seano1]

also it was reported that every player can drink this product in the off season even while training but not in season.....for f,,sake make one rule or the other

[older saint]

Rules are rules , not half pregnant either broke them or didn't - the penalty only gets bigger if deliberate etc.
Sorry Saad but an unfortunate way to finish a career in the AFL

[dragit]

also it was reported that every player can drink this product in the off season even while training but not in season.....for f,,sake make one rule or the other

You can actually drink it any day except match day, that's how minor the offence is.

[mullet]

You think he'll be suing the sports energy company for two years of lost wages

Why, they didnt make him take it. They havent broken any rules. He should of checked. Especially considering the club is sponsored by Musashi. Should
have stuck with this product and not gone chasing extra funds by becoming an ambassador for a product he clearly didnt know any thing about.