By Ian Ransom
MELBOURNE Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:06am EST
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The release of an explosive report into the use of performance-enhancing drugs among Australian athletes prompted the country's former anti-doping chief Richard Ings to describe February 7, 2013 as the "blackest day" in the country's sporting history.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>A year on and with only one athlete punished as a result of Australia's biggest anti-doping investigation, Ings defended his statement as a reaction to a rap-sheet of serious allegations mouthed by politicians at a highly publicized news conference.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"We will catch you," the then-Federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy, flanked by grim-faced heads of major sports, told television cameras on the day the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report was released.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"We are well on the way to seeking out and hunting down those who will dope and cheat."
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Jason Clare, who was home affairs minister at the time, also warned: "Don't underestimate how much we know. Come forward before you get a knock at the door."
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Investigators from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) have knocked on doors but only rugby league player Sandor Earl, who was provisionally suspended in August after admitting to the use and trafficking of a banned peptide, has been sanctioned.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"My reaction was based on what was said on that day and who said it," Ings, ASADA head from 2006-10, told an internet forum hosted by Reuters on Wednesday.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>"Reflecting back, we had the federal justice minister, federal sports minister, ACC CEO, ASADA CEO and heads of every major sport saying: 'This is not just athletes cheating, this is athletes cheating with criminals.'
<span id="midArticle_8"/>"I held the view and still do that these were the most serious allegations made against Australian athletes by the leaders of government, law enforcement and sport."
<span id="midArticle_9"/>Despite dozens of interviews, extra government funding and the strengthening of ASADA's investigatory powers, the probe grinds on, casting a pall over two Australian football leagues, which have been at the heart of the allegations.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>NO CONVICTIONS
<span id="midArticle_11"/>The Australian Football League (AFL), which governs the popular indigenous code Australian Rules, threw one team out of the playoffs last year, suspended their head coach and issued a A$2 million ($1.81 million) fine after charging the club with sourcing and administering banned substances to players.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>The National Rugby League (NRL) also slapped one of their clubs with a heavy fine and banned their coach for a year after a probe into governance issues with the club's supplements program for players.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>Both the AFL and NRL have said ASADA may issue individual punishments for players involved in doping.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>That none have been forthcoming from Australia's peak anti-doping agency jars with the allegations of a year ago, which former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd denounced as "torpedo-ing" Australia's identity as a nation of fair play.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>Addressing the ACC report, Clare spoke of "sports scientists and others... orchestrating the doping of entire teams", with some players administered substances not approved for human use.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Organized crime figures had also infiltrated Australian sports, the report alleged. Not one conviction has been made.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>"What is clear is that whatever the evidence was that motivated the (news conference), that evidence was nowhere near being at a level to issue infractions," Ings said.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"I believe (it) was premature and indeed made ASADA's job of actually doing the investigation harder as a result."
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Amid widespread criticism of the pace of the investigation, ASADA's current chief Aurora Andruska announced earlier this month that she would step down from the post in May.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Her resignation has raised concerns the investigation will be further dragged out.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"I assume she is retiring because she has chosen to retire," Ings said.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"It does seem unusual to me to retire amid the biggest investigation in ASADA's history and to vacate the post with only eight weeks' notice."
<span id="midArticle_7"/>($1 = A$1.1078)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>(Editing by John O'Brien)
<span id="midArticle_9"/>
MELBOURNE Wed Feb 26, 2014 3:06am EST
<span id="articleText"><span id="midArticle_start"/> MELBOURNE (Reuters) - The release of an explosive report into the use of performance-enhancing drugs among Australian athletes prompted the country's former anti-doping chief Richard Ings to describe February 7, 2013 as the "blackest day" in the country's sporting history.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>A year on and with only one athlete punished as a result of Australia's biggest anti-doping investigation, Ings defended his statement as a reaction to a rap-sheet of serious allegations mouthed by politicians at a highly publicized news conference.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"We will catch you," the then-Federal Sports Minister Kate Lundy, flanked by grim-faced heads of major sports, told television cameras on the day the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) report was released.
<span id="midArticle_3"/>"We are well on the way to seeking out and hunting down those who will dope and cheat."
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Jason Clare, who was home affairs minister at the time, also warned: "Don't underestimate how much we know. Come forward before you get a knock at the door."
<span id="midArticle_5"/>Investigators from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) have knocked on doors but only rugby league player Sandor Earl, who was provisionally suspended in August after admitting to the use and trafficking of a banned peptide, has been sanctioned.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"My reaction was based on what was said on that day and who said it," Ings, ASADA head from 2006-10, told an internet forum hosted by Reuters on Wednesday.
<span id="midArticle_7"/>"Reflecting back, we had the federal justice minister, federal sports minister, ACC CEO, ASADA CEO and heads of every major sport saying: 'This is not just athletes cheating, this is athletes cheating with criminals.'
<span id="midArticle_8"/>"I held the view and still do that these were the most serious allegations made against Australian athletes by the leaders of government, law enforcement and sport."
<span id="midArticle_9"/>Despite dozens of interviews, extra government funding and the strengthening of ASADA's investigatory powers, the probe grinds on, casting a pall over two Australian football leagues, which have been at the heart of the allegations.
<span id="midArticle_10"/>NO CONVICTIONS
<span id="midArticle_11"/>The Australian Football League (AFL), which governs the popular indigenous code Australian Rules, threw one team out of the playoffs last year, suspended their head coach and issued a A$2 million ($1.81 million) fine after charging the club with sourcing and administering banned substances to players.
<span id="midArticle_12"/>The National Rugby League (NRL) also slapped one of their clubs with a heavy fine and banned their coach for a year after a probe into governance issues with the club's supplements program for players.
<span id="midArticle_13"/>Both the AFL and NRL have said ASADA may issue individual punishments for players involved in doping.
<span id="midArticle_14"/>That none have been forthcoming from Australia's peak anti-doping agency jars with the allegations of a year ago, which former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd denounced as "torpedo-ing" Australia's identity as a nation of fair play.
<span id="midArticle_15"/>Addressing the ACC report, Clare spoke of "sports scientists and others... orchestrating the doping of entire teams", with some players administered substances not approved for human use.
<span id="midArticle_0"/>Organized crime figures had also infiltrated Australian sports, the report alleged. Not one conviction has been made.
<span id="midArticle_1"/>"What is clear is that whatever the evidence was that motivated the (news conference), that evidence was nowhere near being at a level to issue infractions," Ings said.
<span id="midArticle_2"/>"I believe (it) was premature and indeed made ASADA's job of actually doing the investigation harder as a result."
<span id="midArticle_3"/>Amid widespread criticism of the pace of the investigation, ASADA's current chief Aurora Andruska announced earlier this month that she would step down from the post in May.
<span id="midArticle_4"/>Her resignation has raised concerns the investigation will be further dragged out.
<span id="midArticle_5"/>"I assume she is retiring because she has chosen to retire," Ings said.
<span id="midArticle_6"/>"It does seem unusual to me to retire amid the biggest investigation in ASADA's history and to vacate the post with only eight weeks' notice."
<span id="midArticle_7"/>($1 = A$1.1078)
<span id="midArticle_8"/>(Editing by John O'Brien)
<span id="midArticle_9"/>
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