the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) claimed that it had circumstantial evidence that the banned substance Thymosin Beta 4 was given to players.

Sources that have had access to the report issued this week told The Age that Essendon Bomberscoaches and staff led by James Hird placed their trust in sports scientist Stephen Dank who assured them that the program was in compliance with the rules. The report also stated that the club failed to follow internal regulations for the use of substances endorsed by Dank and that records failed to show the drugs given to individual players.

ASADA received confirmation from 11 Essendon players that they were given Thymosin Beta 4 - a drug determined by the World Anti-Doping Agency to be a performance enhancer - and were just told that they were taking Thymosin. They also took AOD9604, an anti-obesity drug deemed unfit for human use.

The ASADA report on the lack of record-keeping could dim the prospect of sanctions being levied on the players involved. It could also exonerate Hird, who appears to have had no active participation in the doping program.

In the meantime, Dank has refused to talk to either ASADA or the press about either the scandal or the investigations. Previously, he confirmed the usage of Thymosin Beta 4 in an interview with Fairfax Media.

There is "good data, very good data, that supports Thymosin Beta 4 in the immune system," Dank explained in April.

"I will get someone to speak to ASADA about that. That's mind blowing," he added, referring to the agency's decision to publicly list Thymosin Beta 4 as a prohibited substance. ASADA had previously stated that the said drug had been banned since 2011 as part of a catch-all clause of the doping laws.

When pressed for comment on Wednesday, Dank refused to comment any further on the report and denied any illegal activity.

"I'm not commenting on anything ... We'll leave it to the barristers today," Dank told The Age, still refusing to speak about the scandal that may cost the Essendon club ranking points and sanctions on both players and management.

Evidence gathered by ASADA includes documents from convicted drug offender Shane Charter providing Thymosin Beta 4 to Dank as well as information on its usage, player consent forms that suggest the use of AOD9604 and Thymosin, and an admission by Bombers team captain Jobe Watson.

However, the player consent forms do not refer to any specific form of Thymosin, leaving open the possibility that a legal version was used by the players.