North Queensland Cowboys cleared of involvement in ACC probe
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:12 pm
North Queensland Cowboys CEO Peter Jourdain says the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority has informed him that the team has no case to answer in the Australian Crime Commission doping probe.
Meanwhile, Canberra Raiders chief executive Don Furner says a 30-minute briefing from Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority officials on Thursday was very beneficial in a stressful week for the club.
Jourdain said ASADA told North Queensland officials they will not be party to a sweeping investigation involving up to 150 NRL and AFL identities.
He said the Cowboys will no longer feature in the on-going government investigation that could see as many as 80 athletes charged with doping violations.
The other NRL clubs mentioned in the ACC report were Cronulla Sharks, Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders, Newcastle Knights and Manly Sea Eagles.
"We're done and dusted," Jourdain told News Limited.
"I have spoken to ASADA and they have assured me verbally that that's all they require from us. We are not in the 150 people they are talking about being interviewed.
"I don't know why we were involved in the first place. The ACC surely would have referred anything of concern to the Queensland police and they have received nothing.
"We haven't had an off-field player incident for two years so to be brought into this is wrong.
"It's pretty unfair to be dragged into this."
Earleir this week Cowboys coach Neil Henry slammed rugby league's handling of the drugs investigation and says the NRL should be embarrassed.
"The way the whole thing has been handled is a disgrace," Henry said.
"To me I think it's embarrassing for the NRL to come out and mention there is six teams, and to be forced into a situation to defend ourselves against something we don't even know about.
"It's a slight on the integrity of the club - it is farcical. For people to have to defend themselves with not knowing any information, it is just wrong.
"It's a shame we have had to go into this defensive mode," Henry said.
"It was just poorly handled from day one this whole sorry saga.
"Community image to us is everything - we are a community owned club - to have innuendo about the club is just poor."
None of the Raiders' current staff and squad are believed to be under investigation but Furner wanted all to be as well informed as possible.
"They (ASADA) are based here in Canberra so I asked them to come along and they did, which was good of them," Furner told AAP.
"They answered questions from the players, explained the nature of the investigation and explained they understood the frustration that it could take longer.
"They outlined that they still have to follow their procedure and the governance they are under in terms of privacy and collecting information."
Furner said there had been plenty of questions from the players about how and why the club have been implicated and he wanted to make sure they were kept as up to date as possible.
"I said to ASADA I was briefing the players on Thursday and asked them if they'd like to come along and ensure I was passing on the right information and could answer any questions I couldn't," he said.
"The major question was how come it is a blanket investigation and not individuals.
"ASADA explained that this was down to the privacy of the individuals and they had to be protected and it means they have to blanket a whole club until it has been cleared up.
"That is one of the downsides of the investigation, but they have to follow procedures because it's a police matter.
But it effectively went public when the Crime Commission report became public unfortunately."
Furner said he empathised with the comments made by Henry on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nort ... z2Kr55SWDk
Meanwhile, Canberra Raiders chief executive Don Furner says a 30-minute briefing from Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority officials on Thursday was very beneficial in a stressful week for the club.
Jourdain said ASADA told North Queensland officials they will not be party to a sweeping investigation involving up to 150 NRL and AFL identities.
He said the Cowboys will no longer feature in the on-going government investigation that could see as many as 80 athletes charged with doping violations.
The other NRL clubs mentioned in the ACC report were Cronulla Sharks, Penrith Panthers, Canberra Raiders, Newcastle Knights and Manly Sea Eagles.
"We're done and dusted," Jourdain told News Limited.
"I have spoken to ASADA and they have assured me verbally that that's all they require from us. We are not in the 150 people they are talking about being interviewed.
"I don't know why we were involved in the first place. The ACC surely would have referred anything of concern to the Queensland police and they have received nothing.
"We haven't had an off-field player incident for two years so to be brought into this is wrong.
"It's pretty unfair to be dragged into this."
Earleir this week Cowboys coach Neil Henry slammed rugby league's handling of the drugs investigation and says the NRL should be embarrassed.
"The way the whole thing has been handled is a disgrace," Henry said.
"To me I think it's embarrassing for the NRL to come out and mention there is six teams, and to be forced into a situation to defend ourselves against something we don't even know about.
"It's a slight on the integrity of the club - it is farcical. For people to have to defend themselves with not knowing any information, it is just wrong.
"It's a shame we have had to go into this defensive mode," Henry said.
"It was just poorly handled from day one this whole sorry saga.
"Community image to us is everything - we are a community owned club - to have innuendo about the club is just poor."
None of the Raiders' current staff and squad are believed to be under investigation but Furner wanted all to be as well informed as possible.
"They (ASADA) are based here in Canberra so I asked them to come along and they did, which was good of them," Furner told AAP.
"They answered questions from the players, explained the nature of the investigation and explained they understood the frustration that it could take longer.
"They outlined that they still have to follow their procedure and the governance they are under in terms of privacy and collecting information."
Furner said there had been plenty of questions from the players about how and why the club have been implicated and he wanted to make sure they were kept as up to date as possible.
"I said to ASADA I was briefing the players on Thursday and asked them if they'd like to come along and ensure I was passing on the right information and could answer any questions I couldn't," he said.
"The major question was how come it is a blanket investigation and not individuals.
"ASADA explained that this was down to the privacy of the individuals and they had to be protected and it means they have to blanket a whole club until it has been cleared up.
"That is one of the downsides of the investigation, but they have to follow procedures because it's a police matter.
But it effectively went public when the Crime Commission report became public unfortunately."
Furner said he empathised with the comments made by Henry on Wednesday.
Read more: http://www.foxsports.com.au/league/nort ... z2Kr55SWDk
