Professor of Ethics at Oxford University Julian Savulescu. Photo: monash.edu

Oxford University professor Julian Savulescu has labelled the ASADA investigation in to Essendon a “disgrace” and a “gross misuse of public funds”. The professor of ethics made the announcement ahead of his presentation at Deakin Edge on Thursday.

As the Essendon club await Friday’s court ruling over the legality of ASADA’s investigation, professor Savulescu made these startling comments to the press: “The substances that have been widely discussed in Australia recently are substances where there isn’t evidence of significant risk and don’t significantly change the natures of the activity.”

”Thymosin,” he continued, “has been associated with increased tissue repair, which is something that seems quite worthwhile. AOD-6904 is now an approved food supplement in the US.

“What you see is people focusing on the wrong end. They’re trying to pick up anything athletes are taking. What you want to be picking up is things that are unsafe or are really distorting performance.”

The professor then went on to suggest the existence of outright hypocrisy in the laws governing Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). He used the analogy of an injured player being injected with a local anesthetic before and during a match. The anesthetic masks the pain of the injury allowing him to play to his potential. Without the anesthetic his performance would be compromised.

“That’s a performance enhancer and it’s also against the spirit of sport.” And as the PED laws stand now – quite legal.

Professor Savulescu is in Australia to argue why current bans on PEDs are ruining sport in Australia. He firmly believes the use of human growth hormones and anabolic steroids are permissible in certain scenarios.

“Substances like growth hormones and anabolic steroids are safe when given in physiological doses by a medical professional and can accelerate recovery from injury,” he told the press.

“If you take a massive dose like the East German swimmers, yes, you’ll have side effects, but it’s pretty easy to detect that level of overdose.

The crux of the professor’s message is that, as it currently stands, doping agencies are losing their war on PEDs. And they will continue to lose this war unless there is a serious rethink; not just on doping, but on the hype surrounding doping.