Aussie Rules coach accused of taking banned substance

James Hird denies the allegations of drug-taking during his time at Essendon The coach of Aussie Rules club Essendon was accused Thursday of injecting a blacklisted drug while his players were given another substance anti-doping regulators say should be banned, a report said. James Hird allegedly injected a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), while before and during the 2012 AFL season club players were given an anti-obesity drug - AOD9604, Fairfax Media claimed.
The sports scientist who ran Essendon's supplement programme, Stephen Dank, told Fairfax he injected Hird with hexarelin, a drug that may increase human growth hormone levels, and which WADA banned in 2004.
Fairfax said information gathered by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) corroborated Dank's claims.
Coaches in the Australian Football League, a hugely popular sporting code in Australia, are not required to comply with the same rules as players when it comes to WADA banned substances.
But with the team under ASADA investigation over supplement use while Dank was at the club, Hird has denied the allegations.
"These claims are horrifying to me, and are being made by a person or people who appear determined to destroy my reputation," he said in a statement.
"I have at all times fully adhered to, and promoted the WADA code and the AFL rules, and the code of ethics of the Essendon Football Club.
"I just can't wait to get in and talk to ASADA and the AFL ... I can't wait to clear my name."
Fairfax said that WADA's List Committee of Experts panel recently recommended to ASADA that it prohibit AOD9604.
Dank also claimed he gave Essendon players an extract from pig's brain used to treat Alzheimer's, the first milk from a mother cow and a bark extract.
But he said that nothing he gave players was prohibited and stressed that the supplements were safe for human use even though they were not listed as approved by regulators.
ASADA is investigating Essendon after a wide-ranging Australian Crime Commission report found the use of prohibited substances was common across multiple Australian sporting codes, particularly rugby league.