Doping-AFL club seek injunction to halt doping investigation

MELBOURNE, June 23 (Reuters) - Lawyers for Australian Rules club Essendon have requested a hearing for an emergency injunction to halt a lengthy investigation by the country's national anti-doping agency into doping violations in professional sports. The hearing for the application to halt the investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Agency (ASADA) into the administration of dubious supplements in 2012 at the Melbourne-based club is set for Friday in Federal Court, Maurice Blackburn Lawyers said on Monday. ASADA charged 34 current and former AFL players with drugs violations on June 13 following a 16-month investigation into the club's supplements programme. The investigation centred on the use of peptides, which are short chains of amino acids that athletes can take in supplement form to aid muscle growth and re-generation. A number of them are banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), including growth hormone and Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1). Essendon chairman Paul Little said at the time they would fight the charges and also challenge the legality of ASADA's investigation, which relied on witness statements and circumstantial evidence rather than positive drugs tests. The players have until July 11 to respond to the charges, which ASADA referred to as 'show cause notices'. The club's lawyers said on Monday they were seeking the injunction to halt the investigation until the Federal Court hears the club's challenge to its legality. "We have written three times to ASADA's lawyers seeking their co-operation to ensure this matter is dealt with quickly by the court and that pending a quick hearing, the investigation and show cause process be halted," Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein said in a statement on the firm's website (www.mauriceblackburn.com.au). "On each occasion ASADA has failed to agree to our request for an appropriate undertaking. "It is only fair that ASADA commit to take no further steps in its investigation until after the Federal Court has ruled on the legality of the investigation. "If ASADA proceeds, the court will be prevented from effectively ruling on the legality of the investigation because events will have overtaken the legal process." As a result of the initial investigation last year, the AFL disqualified Essendon from the competition's playoffs, banned the club's head coach James Hird for 12 months and slapped the team with a record fine for bringing the game into disrepute. The scandal could bring Essendon to its knees with the majority of the players charged earlier this month still active on the club's 47-man roster. First time offenders face a two-year ban according to the WADA code, though that could be reduced if they co-operate with investigators and anti-doping officials. ASADA chief executive Ben McDevitt said earlier this month he would consider cutting deals if the club and players co-operated, though even six-month bans amongst their playing group would effectively end Essendon's season and affect ticket sales and sponsorship agreements. (Reporting by Greg Stutchbury in Wellington; Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)