AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon has made the following statement in relation to the status of AOD-9604:
"When the Australian Crime Commission report was released in February this year, the report indicated AOD-9604 was not a banned substance. The AFL discussed this at the time with the Essendon FC.
"On April 22 this year, WADA indicated in a statement that AOD-9604 was a banned substance still under pre-clinical and clinical development and that it had not been approved for therapeutic use by any government health authority in the world.
"ASADA advised the AFL their position was consistent with WADA. The AFL has consistently acknowledged the uncertainty concerning the status of AOD-9604.
"The AFL has worked diligently with ASADA to get clarification on the status of AOD-9604 for the purposes of the Essendon FC investigation.
"When releasing the charges against the Essendon FC and four of its officials on 13 August 2013, we indicated that the investigation was continuing and that Infraction Notices against individual Essendon players or other persons could result if further information came to hand.
"In relation to comments last night by Dr Andrew Garnham, we have been advised in writing by ASADA CEO Aurora Andruska this morning that:
'AOD-9604 is not approved for human use and logically it couldn’t be considered safe to use.
'ASADA reiterates that at no point has it advised any party that AOD-9604 was permitted in sport, and our advice to the sporting community has always been consistent with WADA.'
For clarification, in February 2013, Dr Garnham took up an advisory role with the Essendon FC and therefore from that point was no longer eligible to sit on the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal should it be required."
