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8 months ago
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Port Adelaide chairman David Koch has blasted the AFL after a politician accused the league of covering up stars' positive drug test results, stating the allegations are 'beyond belief'.
If follows Federal MP Andrew Wilkie airing the explosive allegations in parliament on Tuesday, with the AFL confirming secret testing had taken place.
'I'm reticent to comment because I only know what we've all read in the paper and the allegations,' Koch told FIVEaa.
'Obviously the AFL will be investigating it closely. To have a deliberate route to avoid testing seems beyond belief to me.
'If you're a serious participant signing up to the WADA [World Anti Doping Agency] procedures you would think every 'I' would be dotted and every 'T' crossed to do the right thing.
Power boss David Koch has been left in a state of disbelief after bombshell allegations against the AFL were tabled in federal parliament on Tuesday night
AFL great Garry Lyon (pictured with Demons coach Simon Goodwin after winning the 2021 Grand Final) was equally stunned
'So I am as shocked as anyone.'
Koch's damning criticism comes as Melbourne Demons great Garry Lyon feels Wilkie's explosive claims will result in further scrutiny surrounding the code's controversial three-strikes policy.
'Everyone has said the same thing in footy for the best part of 18 years,' he said on SEN Breakfast on Wednesday.
'How can you have a three-strike drug system that's caught one person?'
'Now there will be a suspicion on anyone who is a late withdrawal ... the average fan is going to say, 'Oh, late withdrawal, what's going on here?''
AFL Hall of Fame coach Mick Malthouse is still struggling to grasp Wilkie's revelations.
'It's quite damning, it's such a surprise. I can't believe how angry I am,' Malthouse told the Today show.
'We have an obligation for the players' health and an obligation to the game ... we want players to play good football without compromise.
AFL Hall of Fame coach Mick Malthouse told Today, 'This is almost on the same level as the Essendon saga — in fact, it might even go beyond that'
'This is almost on the same level as the Essendon saga — in fact, it might even go beyond that. This is suggesting that AFL officials are involved in this.
'It is just so damning....it's going to place every player, every club official, and in particular club doctors now under scrutiny.
'I've been in football for 50 years, and you think how can this possibly be?'
Former Hawthorn and Gold Coast player Campbell Brown also claimed the current illicit drugs allegations aimed at the AFL is the 'biggest controversy' since the Essendon drug scandal.
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