Essendon coach James Hird launched a scathing attack at the AFL at a press conference into the use of performance drugs at the Essendon Football Club
JAMES Hird will launch Supreme Court action against the AFL over its handling of footy's drugs investigation.
"We will be instituting proceedings in the morning," the Essendon coach's lawyer, Stephen Amendola, told the Herald Sun.
The move comes as it emerged the AFL wanted the Bombers to accept a penalty deal which would have included Hird's head, a multi-million-dollar fine, the loss of possibly two years of draft picks and exclusion from this year's finals.
Essendon said it never considered the proposed "deal" from the AFL because it considered the sanction "armageddon".
Doc's letter reveals he was kept in dark
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The seven-month drugs scandal exploded yesterday after the AFL chose to release its full list of charges against the Bombers.
The 34-page document revealed a litany of allegations detailing drug injections, substances brought back from China by a convicted drug dealer and claims of a health scare for Hird after he was injected with an exotic substance.
Bombers coach James Hird told the media that AFL has ''continued its trial by media''. Picture: Getty Images
Essendon described the move as an "ambush", and said a different set of charges had been presented to the club by the league in tense negotiations last week.
The list of charges states:
PLAYERS may have been given banned performance-enhancing drug Thymosin Beta-4, among 15 substances administered.
HIRD had suffered unspecified "significant" side-effects from drugs he injected in 2012.
CLUB doctor Bruce Reid expressed his concern and frustration over the supplements regime in his missing letter to other club officials.
HIRD was warned by an AFL integrity officer to avoid peptides.
PLAYERS were to receive 1500 injections of AOD-9604 and a version of Thymosin and more than 16,500 doses of Colostrum and 8000 doses of Tribulus.
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has publically anounced the charges Essendon will be facing, while also confirming a meeting of all club presidents will be held in the near future.
"The AFL is determined to punish the Essendon Football Club, and four individuals personally, as though we were drug cheats," club chairman Paul Little said.
AFL Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick has called an extraordinary meeting of 18 club presidents for this afternoon.
Detailing the charges, AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said: "The Essendon Football Club and other parties will be given every reasonable opportunity to answer these charges. There has been no predetermination of this matter."
AFL, Bombers head for legal showdown
Hird health scare claims
One club president told the Herald Sun he expected the league to seek club support in punishing the Bombers and, potentially, kicking them out of the finals.
Little confirmed he would front the meeting.
Essendon chairman Paul Little defends the club during a press conference. Picture: Stuart Walmsley
The league is determined to resolve the dispute in a hearing before the AFL Commission.
But Hird's lawyers, acting with the support of the club, will today ask the Supreme Court to back the coach's demands for an independent hearing and the removal of AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou from any proceedings.
The Supreme Court statement of claim is also expected to detail the events of early February and the AFL's alleged involvement in the club's decision to "self-report" to the league and Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.
What Little and Hird said in full
AFL knew about AOD-9604
The AFL charged Essendon and its four officials - Hird, club doctor Bruce Reid, assistant coach Mark Thompson and footy boss Danny Corcoran - with bringing the game into disrepute 10 days ago over the 2012 supplements program.
A former member of the AFL's anti-drug tribunal tells AFL 360 the supplement at the centre of the Essendon scandal was "not illegal".
The full text of Dr Reid's letter and supporting documentation relating to the possible use of banned drugs feature in the 34-page document released.
Essendon also took aim at the AFL over claims a former member of the AFL's anti-doping tribunal was told in February that AOD-9604 was safe and not prohibited.
Dr Andrew Garnham, currently working as a consultant for Essendon, said scientific evidence showed AOD-9604 had minimal side-effects.
"That the AFL has known this for six months but let questions hang over the head of the club and most unforgivably our players, is reprehensible," Little said.
ASADA maintained it had never approved the use of AOD-9604.
A defiant Hird said: "The AFL today continued its trial by media of me. We only received notification minutes before the AFL charges were made public.
"The announcement by ambush confirms the AFL is running an agenda, which again calls into question its impartiality."
AFL boss Andrew Demetriou fronts the media at AFL House. Picture: Jake Nowakowski
Demetriou said the charges were only alleged, and that Essendon and its officials, had "every opportunity" to defend themselves.
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