THE AUSTRALIAN Sports Anti-Doping authority has finally caught up with Stephen Dank.
The former Essendon sports scientist, who has so far refused to be interviewed by ASADA, has received a 'show-cause letter' to answer 34 allegations under the anti-doping code.
Dank has up to 10 days to demonstrate why further action should NOT betaken. If he chooses not to respond, the case will be back in ASADA'shands.
Dank has up to 10 days to demonstrate why further action should NOT betaken. If he chooses not to respond, the case will be back in ASADA'shands.
Dank's barrister Greg Stanton confirmed his client had received the documentation. Dank's legal team is now weighing up its next move.
"[Our] next comment is 'so what?' In legal terms it has no force of its own," Stanton told AFL.com.au.
"[It's] drafted in complicated and complex terms."
The biochemist also had significant involvement with NRL club Cronulla but it's understood all of the alleged incidents mentioned in the letter relate to Dank's work at Essendon.
Stanton insisted Dank was not fazed by the news.
"He's not adversely affected at all," he said.
But AFL.com.au understands Dank is furious about the information becoming public and has tasked his legal team with getting to the bottom of the leak.
It's believed Dank received the letter two days ago.
"The reporting that ASADA has issued a 'show-cause letter' to Stephen Dank is most significant in this ongoing matter of whether athletes were involved in using performance enhancing drugs or not," former ASADA boss Richard Ings told AFL.com.au.
Dank has been booked as a guest to appear at a fundraiser next week for the Riddell Football Club.
Suspended Essendon coach James Hird and his family are off to Paris where Hird will study at an elite university.
Hird spoke publicly for the first time since being handed his 12-month suspension to coach Essendon on Thursday night.
"I'll be back coaching towards the end of this year. I'm looking forward to helping the club in any way when I come back," Hird told Channel Nine's The Footy Show.
"I'll be back at the club. Look, Bomber's the coach for 2014, and I'll be coming back as the coach in 2015.
"It's up to what Bomber really needs (whether he returns to the coach's box).
Hird's trip, which will be part-funded by Essendon, was part of an agreement which saw him sanctioned for his involvement in the 2012 Essendon supplements saga.
He was offered international education that will see his family visit Singapore, France and Russia.
"We are looking forward to getting over as a family, it should be good," he said.
The AFL and Essendon have declined to comment on the Dank development.
