McMillan says Partick and SFA have ‘abandoned’ him over drug ban
JORDAN McMILLAN, the former Partick Thistle defender who was banned from football for two years after failing a drugs test in 2014, has accused the Firhill club and the Scottish Football Association of abandoning him.
The 27-year-old, who tested positive for cocaine, denied deliberately taking the drug, but both UK Anti-Doping and the SFA operate a strict liability policy.
The player’s defence was based around a statement from a family acquaintance who testified he had put cocaine in a drink which he had mistakenly given him.
“Going into my first hearing the SFA didn’t want anything to do with it and my club abandoned me,” McMillan told the BBC.
“We had a couple of meetings regarding certain things to do with UKAD, which they could have helped me with, but they just passed the blame totally on to them. Everybody’s just closed ranks even when we’ve got hard evidence and paperwork to prove what’s right and wrong, they still don’t want to listen.”
McMillan, whose ban was reduced by a month in July, admitted he was frustrated by the inconsistency of the punishments handed out for drug offences and pointed to the example of Jake Livermore in England.
Livermore, the Hull City midfielder, tested positive for cocaine in a random drugs test in May last year and was suspended by both the FA and his club.
However, Hull manager Steve Bruce revealed the player had taken the substance to cope with the death of his newborn child and the bans were lifted as the FA are not bound by UKAD rules.
“It’s the consistency part of it,” McMillan added. “You’ve got guys in England admitting taking banned substances and there should be four-year sanctions and they’re walking away.
“Whereas I’m innocent, going to the Procurator Fiscal, to police, getting that documented. UKAD believed what I said was true, but because the National Anti-Doping Panel didn’t, I’m still hit with a two-year ban. Good luck to Jake Livermore and his legal team. His football association has stuck by him, and his club – two things I never had. I feel let down. They never helped me in any way.”
The SFA declined to comment but a Partick Thistle spokesman said: “We continue to believe we responded in a fair and thoroughly professional manner and stand by the action taken at the time.”