Silence is good news for Essendon players. Source: Michael Klein / News Limited
ESSENDON players have not received key papers from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority that would trigger an infraction notice from the AFL.
With the ASADA report on its investigation into the club's supplements program due any day, the absence of a letter could be seen as good news for players.
ASADA last week told the Herald Sun that under its regulations "when ASADA believes someone has possibly committed an anti-doping rule violation, it will write to that individual in accordance with the National Anti-Doping Scheme providing them with an opportunity to make a submission".
That step and the Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel then entering the players' details on the Register of Findings is understood to be the trigger that would allow the AFL to hand out infraction notices to players.
ASADA would not say last night whether it could write to players after the report was delivered to the AFL, and others close to the investigation said it was still too early to say if the players would be cleared.
It is understood that the AFL could not issue an infraction notice until the Register of Findings stage is complete.
That stage includes the opportunity for players to make a written submission and appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.
The ASADA report will not be made immediately public by the AFL, but is expected to be shared with Essendon.
The AFL would not comment on what the next steps of the ASADA-AFL joint investigation would be.
ASADA would only say yesterday: "ASADA has a duty of care to be both thorough and accurate in every step of its process. A number of issues are being worked though before finalising the process."
Asked yesterday if any of its players had been written to by ASADA, Essendon said in a statement: "Legally, the club is not in a position to disclose this information."
In documents revealed last week, ASADA flagged to Essendon players at the beginning of the investigation that under some circumstances they could escape sanction under "no fault or negligence" provisions of the World Anti-Doping Agency code.
WADA can appeal any outcome or penalty from the ASADA-AFL investigation if it is not satisfied.
Separate to any potential sanctions faced by players, the AFL Commission has extraordinary powers.
It could fine the club, strip it of premiership points, strip it of future draft picks and deregister or ban players and officials.
A harsh penalty for the club is widely expected.
The AFL has stated it wants the process to be completed before its finals series begins, although league boss Andrew Demetriou yesterday flagged the possibility of some aspects of the investigation remaining open after the report is delivered.
"ASADA has been recently given new powers and they may choose to exercise those powers and it happens in the AFL," he said.
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