The World Anti-Doping Agency has confirmed it will not appeal the backdated bans handed to 12 Cronulla players in August, but in a scathing assessment has blamed ASADA time wasting for the leniency of the sanctions, concluding they are "not entirely satisfied with the outcome of this case".
Cronulla and NSW captain Paul Gallen and 11 others in August accepted what amounted to three-month suspensions – mostly served in the off-season – for "unwittingly" being administered performance-enhancing peptides during the Sharks' supplements regime of 2011.
The bans were backdated to begin in November 2013 in a deal offered to the players because of delays in ASADA delivering show-cause notices and will expire in eight weeks.
After having its legal team in Montreal review the case, WADA indicated on Tuesday it would reluctantly not appeal the sanctions but singled out Australia's anti-doping watchdog for heavy criticism over a "lack of activity or decision by either ASADA or the Australian government" in the months after its investigation was completed.
In a statement, WADA also took aim at the delay in action being taken after retired Federal Court Judge Garry Downes completed a review of the ASADA probe in April.
"Nothing was done by ASADA to advance the matter following the completion of the ASADA investigation in November 2013 for many months," the statement said. "The Australian government decided, for reasons it considered appropriate, to appoint a retired judge (Downes) to review the ASADA files. It took some months for Downes to complete his task in early April 2014.
"There is no explanation for the continued inaction from ASADA following the receipt of the Downes report in April 2014 until steps were formally taken by ASADA in August 2014."
Most of the players rubbed out missed only three competition matches this season after owning up to anti-doping breaches under the "no significant fault" defence, which allowed what might have been two-year suspensions to be reduced by 50 per cent.
WADA said the backdating was "justified by the delays in the process", which the statement said was not any fault of the players or their representatives.
"WADA is not entirely satisfied with the outcome of this case and the practical period of the 12-month suspensions that will actually be served by the players," the statement said. "However, having fully considered all circumstances, WADA is of the view that an appeal would not advance the fight against doping."
Gallen and Newcastle and New Zealand forward Jeremy Smith were ruled out of Four Nations contention, and North Queensland winger Matthew Wright had to sit out the Cowboys' finals tilt.
Richard Redman, the lawyer who represented many of the 17 players handed show-cause notices on August 20, said WADA's conclusion absolved the players of blame for the interminable length of the NRL drugs-in-sport saga.
"The players have maintained since day dot that they wanted to get on with it and they wanted it over," Redman said. "Now the independent body that monitors this worldwide has reviewed the case and confirmed this cloud over our game is not the players' doing."
ASADA chief executive Ben McDevitt, who replaced the agency's former boss Aurora Andruska in May, said in an interview in August that the watchdog had been ill-equipped for the dual inquiries into Cronulla and AFL team Essendon.
"The reality is I don't think ASADA was ready for an investigation of this magnitude, and it's not just ASADA," McDevitt told the ABC. "I don't think any national anti-doping organisation in the world would have been ready for something of this magnitude, complexity, this enormity which was immediately made public and needed to be conducted under the public eye."
