CONFIDENT: West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett has the "utmost faith" his club is clean. Picture: Justin Benson-Cooper Source: PerthNow
WEST Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett says he has "the utmost faith" that the Eagles are clean of the drug allegations sweeping Australian sport, but conceded it was impossible for any club to be "100 per cent" certain.
The AFL will move to have all its sports science staff accredited before appointment at a club in the wake of both the Essendon supplement fallout and the report released yesterday by the Australian Crime Commission that alleged wide-spread use of performance enhancing and illicit drugs across all sporting codes in the country.
Nisbett said he agreed with the accreditation move, pointing to the fact that other officials - such as coaches - required approval and the rule should be applied across the board.
But while he remained confident the Eagles would avoid getting swept into the issue, he said the size of current-day clubs made it difficult to be certain they were clean.
"I don't think anyone can ever say, '100 per cent', and I think it would be naive to say that," Nisbett said.
"But we know from the programs we've implemented, the education we've done, the senior players who are the leaders in our club, the staff that we've appointed; we're very confident about our playing group.
"No doubt, we've done a lot of work with our players and made sure they're not only versed in illicit drugs, but that they understand their obligations to the code.
"They have a very big obligation to make sure that football as a sport is at the forefront for kids growing up."
West Coast was embroiled in its own off-field dramas in 2007 and the club tightened up its operations as the AFL threatened to impose sanctions.
It was a time that damaged the image of the club, and Nisbett said regardless of the more detailed findings into the AFL that would be released, the league had also now been tarnished.
But he said the investigation would result in changes for the better for the AFL and threw his support behind the league's chiefs.
"It's damaging now - just the allegations are damaging," Nisbett said.
"Hopefully - and I say this with all sincerity - there won't be a lot of issues that come out of the investigation into AFL footy, but, again, I wouldn't say that there won't be some.
"There's a lot of mud being thrown around at the moment and I hope that the investigations are going to be really thorough and we make sure that, if there are people trying to do things against the system, that we make sure they get the appropriate sanctions.
"It's something that has to be addressed, and it will be.
"If you've seen the action the AFL has taken over the past 24 hours, you'll see that it's been taken seriously.
"There's no room for drugs in sport and, certainly, we're one of the major advocates.
"So we're very supportive of Andrew (Demetriou), and Mike (Fitzpatrick) at the AFL and what they're committing to."
Nisbett was speaking from the Eagles' community camp in Northam, and said it had been a positive experience for the players, especially Northam native Darren Glass.
"The camps are significant in our calendar, they're one of the great things that we do and getting to the country is fantastic," he said.
"Coming to Northam, there was no-one more excited than Glassy, coming to his home town ... it was just fantastic for him to showcase his home town."
Nisbett has faith Eagles are clean
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Nisbett has faith Eagles are clean
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