Scandal Joel Smith (Melbourne): Cocaine trafficking accusation

[Chief]

Trafficking Accusation:

Scandal - Joel Smith (Melbourne): Cocaine trafficking accusation

Trafficking Accusation: https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/joel-smith-melbourne-cocaine-trafficking-accusation.1373812/post-82421629 MFC and AFL Statements: Melbourne Football Club Media Statement – Joel Smith The Melbourne Football Club has been advised by the AFL that further...

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MFC and AFL Statements:

Melbourne Football Club Media Statement – Joel Smith

The Melbourne Football Club has been advised by the AFL that further Anti-Doping Rule Violations have been asserted against Joel Smith by Sport Integrity Australia.

The Melbourne Football Club is not authorised to make public comment while this is an ongoing matter that is being investigated by Sport Integrity Australia.

It should be noted since the article has been published on the Herald Sun website, Joel’s management has contacted the Club on his behalf to advise that the comments made by the source within the article are not reflective of Joel’s views and the source is not speaking on any authority from Joel.

Joel has made it very clear that he has no issues or concerns with anyone at the Melbourne Football Club.

As the Club has previously stated, we will wait for the investigation to be completed before we update our supporters further.

AFL STATEMENT – JOEL SMITH

The AFL confirms that further Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) have been asserted against Joel Smith of the Melbourne Football Club under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code.

Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) has notified Smith that three ADRVs for “Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking” of Cocaine to third parties are asserted against him.

Under the Code, Trafficking in an anti-doping context is relevantly defined to be “Selling, giving, transporting, sending, delivering or distributing a Prohibited Substance, by an Athlete … to any third party [but] shall not include actions involving Prohibited Substances which are not prohibited in Out-of-Competition Testing unless the circumstances as a whole demonstrate such Prohibited Substances are not intended for genuine and legal therapeutic purposes or are intended to enhance sport performance” (Article 1 of the Code).

Further, SIA has notified Smith that an ADRV for Possession of a Prohibited Substance (Cocaine) on 9 September 2022 is asserted against him.

These ADRVs are in addition to that previously asserted against him (in connection with a sample provided by him after the match between Melbourne and Hawthorn on 20 August 2023 which tested positive to Cocaine and its metabolite, Benzoylecgonine).

Smith will continue to be provisionally suspended pending the finalisation of all of these matters, meaning he is not permitted to be part of Melbourne’s football program, including Melbourne’s pre-season training that is currently underway.

Under the Code, the new asserted ADRVs will be further investigated by SIA and these matters may ultimately be heard by an AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in the coming months.

Due to the ongoing nature of the anti-doping process, the AFL and SIA are unable to make any further comment at this time.

 

[bindi27]

petracca isn't a world class athlete. He has poor endurance and is slow outside of 5m. I was staggered Harley Reid got the goal of the year by 'running away' from Petracca and kicking a routine goal from 45m.

Perhaps Melbourne should play their best player Bailey Fritsch in the middle next year?

 

[Teal Leviathan]

As it was a SIA (Sport Integrity Australia) positive competition adverse finding that escalated into trafficking once SIA's investigators did their work, it was out of the AFL's hands. There's no broom big enough or rugs in the SIA CEO office. And, as we've seen, they won't hesitate to dump concrete on athletes. No wet lettuce leaves in their arsenal....

It occurs to me that the identities of the other players in Joel Smith's group chat could possibly be deduced from SIA test statistics. Even lacking corroborating evidence, being mentioned in such a chat would certainly justify elevated rates of surveillance.

USADA publishes test history on a per-athlete basis, as does World Aquatics. Mysteriously, it appears that Sports Integrity Australia, following in the footsteps of China's anti-doping agency, chooses not to make this information available.

 

[danster168]

Perhaps Melbourne should play their best player Bailey Fritsch in the middle next year?

Who is Bailey Fritsch?