The Australian Sports Anti Doping Authority, or ASADA is still considering its next course of action after losing a legal battle against 34 players of AFL club Essendon. An AFL tribunal had found the players innocent of charges that they had used the drug thymosin beta-4 during the course of the 2012 season.

ASADA Chief Executive Officer Ben McDevitt, however, has vowed to keep all options open, including appealing the verdict.

"We know that hundreds if not thousands of injections were given to Essendon players during the course of 2012. The absolutely deplorable and disgraceful lack of records of these injections means we still have young men not knowing what was injected into them,” McDevitt said in the press conference saying that the incident was about more than just poor governance.

One of the major reasons for the not guilty verdict was that the tribunal felt there was not enough evidence to show actual use of the banned peptide. There were no records of what the players were given and not given. And this is where the ASADA was hampered in proving its case.

The players may have been found not guilty, but the serious nature of mismanagement of the supplements program meant a number of senior people at the club resigned. This includes former CEO Ian Robson, former chairman David Evans, Dean Corcoran, the former head of football, among others. Sports scientist Stephen Dank, who was contracted with the club, is still facing a life ban. The anti-doping tribunal is yet to pronounce a verdict on the allegations against him.

The club also were not allowed to compete in the 2013 AFL finals, given a $2 million fine, lost two draft picks and coach James Hird was suspended for 12 months.

The players, however, feel vindicated and are ready to move on, as captain Jobe Watson made it clear in a press conference. The AFL Players’ Association has also welcomed the end of proceedings. And with the AFL season itself starting this week, they can now solely focus on what’s happening on the field and not off it.

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