• Andrew Demetriou will stand down as AFL CEO at the end of 2014
• AFL to begin 2-3 month search for Demetriou's replacement
• Deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan among leading candidates for top job
WHEN Andrew Demetriou announced on Monday that he would leave the AFL at the end of the season, he insisted he had no regrets.
Yet he later admitted he was disappointed the League was not able to curb the increasing use of supplements in the game, which led to the crisis that continues to surround Essendon.
Demetriou stated that both he and League chairman Mike Fitzpatrick were "concerned about sport science a couple of years ago".
"Whether we could've acted earlier … we just weren't in a position there," the departing chief executive added. "There was enough hearsay to have us worried.
"The AFL has done all it can do in this situation. I'm proud of how we acted last year.
"We've enhanced the anti-doping code. What happens thereafter is in (anti-doping agency) ASADA's hands. We are well equipped with any issue going forward."
Asked if he accepted any responsibility for the Essendon scandal, Demetriou responded strongly.
"I don't accept any responsibility for people who try to infiltrate the game, to inject young men with God-knows what substances, to introduce practices that are abhorrent to the game and to families," he said.
"Our job is to try and put as many preventative measures in places as we could, and even as good as our integrity department was, we didn't pick that up.
"That's not a fault. You don't catch every speeding fine, you don't catch every person who breaks the law.
"We are better equipped today to tackle those issues. The AFL's in much better shape today, as is the industry, because of the learnings that happened last year."
ASADA last week announced that it had finished its investigation into the Bombers' supplements program.
But the AFL remains unsure of how long it will take for ASADA to hand down its final report.
"It's one of those things that out of our control and it's frankly out of Essendon's control as well," AFL commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said.
"In that circumstance, all you can do is get on with things that you can control.
"So ASADA have to get on with their work. Ideally, we'll get some answer in the next few months and then we'll deal with whatever we get."
