Hird not finished just yet
ESSENDON coach James Hird has confirmed he is reserving his right to take his one-man fight against ASADA to the High Court.
Hird, who on Friday lost an appeal in the Federal Court, said last night he believed his players had been the victims of an unfair and unlawful investigation process by ASADA.
He said the players “probably have less rights now than the average Australian citizen.”
“We were forced to give evidence in the hearings (ASADA interviews) and we weren’t provided with the confidentiality that one would expect,” Hird told Channel 7.
“I feel very strongly about the fact our players weren’t given the right to go through a lawful investigation.
“This was not about suppressing evidence, not about getting the players off on a technicality — it was about trying to get the players a fair system.”
Hird said he would need to find the money to pay for his protracted legal fight.
“Personally, yeah, it has cost me a lot of money and it is money we will have to go and find and obviously we have to pay it. It’s an expensive exercise.”
Meanwhile the AFL AntiDoping Tribunal hearing charges against 34 current and former Bombers players has confirmed it will not make public even redacted versions of the written submissions it is due to receive this month.
“The tribunal will make its reasons known when the verdict is delivered on innocence or guilt, including its views on the submissions put forward, but the submissions would not be made public before that time,” a spokesman said.
The AFL, along with several media outlets had put submissions to the tribunal that hearings should be open because of public interest and to mitigate further mistrust of the process.
ASADA is due to hand over its submission by Thursday, the players’ lawyers by February 12 and the AFL by February 14.