Essendon sports guru denies doping

Former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank has denied supplying the Australian Rules club’s players with performance-enhancing drugs — and insisted he ran his supplement programme with the full knowledge of other high-ranking club officials.

The Australian Football League (AFL) confirmed on Sunday that Essendon was under investigation by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) following a 12-month probe into drug use, match-fixing and links with criminal organisations across a number of sports in the country.

Dank admitted to having “35 to 40” players in his care at Essendon but is adamant he did not prescribe anything which would contravene the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code.