User:Hack/The Darkest Day in Australian sport

The Blackest Day in Australian sport, also known as the The Darkest Day in Australian sport, refers to the 7 February 2013 announcement of the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport detailing alleged drug use and criminal connections in Australian sport. The report detailed the work of Project Aperio, an investigation that led to the suspension of over 40 players and two head coaches in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Football League (AFL).

Background
Project Aperio was set up in early 2012 by the ACC with support from the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). The project team was tasked with investigating the involvement of organised crime in the distribution and use of performance enhancing drugs and other issues affecting the integrity of Australian sport. While the probe was focused on the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australian Football League (AFL), the investigators were given scope to look into other sports.

Two days before the announcement, the Essendon Football Club asked the AFL and ASADA to investigate their 2012 supplements program that had been led by Stephen Dank, a biochemist who had worked with a number of AFL and NRL clubs. Senior figures at the AFL and Essendon denied that there had been a tipoff about the ACC investigation by the AFL.

Announcement
On 7 February 2013 a press conference was called by then-Federal Justice Minister Jason Clare and Sports Minister Kate Lundy to release the findings of Project Aperio in a report Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport. Clare and Lundy fronted a press conference supported by heads of the investigating bodies and major Australian sporting bodies. The investigating bodies were represented by John Lawler (ACC) and Aurora Andruska (ASADA). The major sports were represented by James Sutherland (cricket), Andrew Demetriou (Australian rules football), Dave Smith (rugby league), David Gallop (soccer) and Bill Pulver (rugby union).

The tagline "The Blackest Day in Australian sport" came from a quote from Richard Ings, a former head of ASADA. Ings said in an interview on ABC News 24 later in the day, "this is not a black day in Australian sport, this is the blackest day in Australian sport". In the days following, Ings was criticised with his comment described as being "hysterical".

Report
The report found that the number of hormones being intercepted by Australian Customs had increased 255 per cent between 2009–10 and 2010–11.

Reaction
In a press conference later in the day, Victoria Police deputy commissioner Graham Ashton raised concerns over the prospect of match-fixing occurring in Victoria. Ashton raised the example of an A-League soccer match where $40m had been bet on in Hong Kong. It was later clarified that the currency was in fact Hong Kong dollars rather than Australian dollars.

Immediately following the release of the report, criticism was levelled against the manner of the announcement, suggesting a political motive. In August 2014, then-prime minister Tony Abbott speaking about the press conference said that "...far from being the blackest day for Australian sport, it was a black day for politics, it was a black day for the Labor party."

In April 2015, after the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal cleared 34 Essendon players, Clare admitted that the announcement could have been handled better.

National Rugby League
Canberra Raiders player Sandor Earl became the first player to be suspended from the investigation when in August 2013 he received a provisional ban for use and trafficking a banned substance. In October 2015 Earl received a four-year ban which was backdated to August 2013.

In December 2013, Cronulla head coach Shane Flanagan received a 12-month suspension from the NRL. The ban was reduced to nine months after Flanagan agreed to undertake governance and leadership training.

In August 2014, 12 players who had been at Cronulla in 2011 were found guilty and 10 were offered back-dated 12-month bans.

Australian Football League
In August 2013, Essendon head coach James Hird received a 12-month ban from the AFL. The team were excluded from the 2013 AFL Finals Series.

After a 2015 decision to clear 34 members of Essendon's 2012 team was made by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In January 2016, CAS found the 34 players guilty and imposed backdated two-year suspensions, ruling all out for the 2016 season.