Australia’s anti-doping agency say they never told anyone the drug at the centre of the Essendon scandal is allowed for use in sport.
But the status of the anti-obesity drug AOD-9604, injected last year by some Essendon players including captain Jobe Watson, remains uncertain.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) have told the AFL they never advised anyone the substance is permitted in sport.
The AFL released a statement on Wednesday in response to comments from former AFL anti-doping tribunal member Andrew Garnham.
Garnham, who is advising Essendon, said he was told by ASADA in February that AOD-9604 was not banned last year when the drug was given to Essendon players.
Essendon chairman Paul Little seized on Garnham’s comments.
“That the AFL has known this for six months, but let questions hang over the heads of the club and most unforgivably our players is reprehensible,” Little told reporters in Melbourne.
But ASADA chief executive Aurora Andruska wrote to the AFL on Wednesday to say her organisation had never given anyone such advice.
“AOD-9604 is not approved for human use and logically it couldn’t be considered safe to use,” Andruska told the AFL.
“ASADA reiterates that at no point has it advised any party that AOD-9604 was permitted in sport.”
But Andruska didn’t clarify what advice ASADA gave Essendon or other parties – and whether they advised them the drug wasn’t banned.
A separate statement later released by an ASADA spokesman said: “ASADA acknowledges that the issues regarding AOD-9604, alongside a number of other substances, are complex, and it is considering these issues as part of its ongoing investigation”.
The status of the drug through last year’s supplements program at Essendon is a key issue of the ongoing ASADA investigation into the Bombers.
The Australian Crime Commission report released in February indicated AOD-9604 was not a banned substance, which the ACC based on advice from ASADA.
But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issued a statement in April that AOD-9604 was banned as it hadn’t been approved by an governmental regulatory health authority for human therapeutic use.
The AFL last week laid charges of bringing the game into disrepute against the Bombers, their senior coach James Hird, club doctor Bruce Reid, assistant coach Mark Thompson and football manager Danny Corcoran.
No anti-doping charges have yet been laid.
AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon said the league had been working with ASADA to clarify AOD-9604’s status since WADA’s statement in April.
“ASADA advised the AFL their position was consistent with WADA. The AFL has consistently acknowledged the uncertainty concerning the status of AOD-9604,” Dillon said.
Dillon also confirmed Dr Garnham would no longer be eligible to sit on the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal given his role with Essendon.
