Anti-obesity drug banned - WADA

A convicted drug trafficker claims he helped AFL and NRL players dope and dodge blood tests.

Explosive new doping claims have been revealed in an interview with biochemist Shane Charter.

Shane Charter, who is embroilled in the Dank, Essendon and AFL drug drama. Picture: Chris Scott Source: Herald Sun

THE World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has confirmed a growth hormone alleged to have been used by Essendon players last year is a banned substance, as convicted drug dealer Shane Charter says he helped footballers use performance enhancing drugs.

It is alleged anti-obesity drug AOD-9604, which has not been cleared for human use, was administered to at least six Essendon players last year by controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank.

Confusion has surrounded the status of the growth hormone with the Australian Crime Commission stating in its Drugs in Sport report that the drug was not yet banned.

But last night WADA issued a statement that as the drug has not been approved for human use it is a banned substance.

"AOD-9604 is a substance still under pre-clinical and clinical development and has not been approved for therapeutic use by any government health authority in the world," the statement said.

"Therefore, under the 2013 Prohibited Substances and Methods List, the substance falls into the S.0 category which states: Any pharmacological substance which is not addressed by any of the subsequent sections of the List and with no current approval by any governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use (e.g drugs under pre-clinical or clinical development or discontinued, designer drugs, substances approved only for veterinary use) is prohibited at all times."

WADA said it issued the statement following several inquiries regarding the drug.

Mr Dank has reportedly said he injected Essendon players with the anti-obesity drug.

While Metabolic Pharmacy chief executive David Kenley, whose company holds the worldwide rights to AOD, said he had often discussed the drug with Mr Dank.

Mr Kenley said he believed some Essendon players used the drug to help them recover from injury more quickly.

"I understand it used by about half a dozen footballers at Essendon purely to assist in soft tissue injury and to aid the recovery so that the players that were injured could get back onto the pitch quicker,' he told the ABC's Four Corners program last night.

Former Head of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Richard Ings said this morning that any player using AOD 9604 after 2011 has a serious case to answer.

"The announcement overnight by WADA is extremely significant," he told 3AW radio.

"One of the threshold questions in this whole investigation has been the status of AOD 9604 and WADA has definitively said that it is classified as a banned substance under the WADA".

The WADA statement comes as Charter claims he helped elite footballers dope and dodge blood tests.

The bodybuilder and biochemist's claims cast fresh doubt on the adequacy of existing sports drug testing regimens and bring new urgency to the need for benchmark blood testing, also known as biological profiling, of athletes.

On ABC TV's program, Four Corners, Charter was asked: "Just to be clear, you've assisted NRL players and AFL players with their use of performance-enhancing drugs?"

He replies: "I've kept them in a safe and non-toxic range so that they didn't do long-term damage to themselves," he said.

Charter, who is represented by celebrity agent Max Markson, is believed to have extensive knowledge of sports doping practices not only within football but several other sports.

He has told how doped athletes would pull out of an event citing injury if blood tests conducted beforehand indicated they would return a positive official test.

"If they (test results) came back and they weren't passing the test, then depending on the product and the timeline up to the event, that athlete may pull a hamstring and not go to that event," he said.

"There's a difference between being shown positive and using performance-enhancing drugs, and that's the issue I'm trying to bring to light."

Charter worked with Mr Dank, the sports scientist at the centre of the doping scandal sweeping Australian sport.

Mr Dank has denied links with Charter, but it has been alleged Charter has correspondence between the pair stretching back 18 months.

Charter, who is known to spend time in Thailand and has visited Malaysia, has claimed a bikie-affiliated contact in the powerlifting industry introduced him to performance-enhancing drugs and organised crime in both Australia and Asia.

Europol is investigating a worldwide soccer match-fixing operation anchored in Asia.

Charter, who once knew Hird and chairman David Evans, is adamant that Hird had not use banned substances.

"James is proud of the fact that I was able to help James in his twilight years to get that extra season out of him," he said.

Charter was charged in 2004 with bringing millions of dollars worth of pseudoephidrine into Australia.

A personal trainer, he had also worked with a number of football players.

There has never been a suggestion they took banned substances.

The Herald Sun has reported that Charter was an associate of the late underworld figure John Giannarelli, a sports agent who has represented athletes including Olympic swimmer Scott Miller and jockey Simon Marshall. Miller admitted to supplying ecstasy to a friend, rugby player Mark Catchpole, in 2008.

Biological profiling is under way in the AFL and is being introduced by the NRL.

- with James Dowling

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