Melbourne forward Joel Smith is facing bombshell new allegations of trafficking cocaine during the 2022 AFL finals series, in a major twist to his ongoing doping case.
Smith is currently provisionally suspended and facing a two-year ban after testing positive for the drug following a Demons match against Hawthorn in late 2023.
However, according to the Herald Sun, text messages have been found on his phone offering Dees teammates ‘a quantity of the drug’.
The AFL have confirmed Smith has been charged by Sports Integrity Australia with three Anti-Doping Rule Violations for trafficking cocaine, plus an additional ADRV for alleged possession of a prohibited substance in September 2022, on the day Melbourne lost their semi-final to Brisbane.
“Under the Code, Trafficking in an anti-doping context is relevantly defined to be ‘Selling, giving, transporting, sending, delivering or distributing a Prohibited Substance, by an Athlete… to any third party [but] shall not include actions involving Prohibited Substances which are not prohibited in Out-of-Competition Testing unless the circumstances as a whole demonstrate such Prohibited Substances are not intended for genuine and legal therapeutic purposes or are intended to enhance sport performance’ (Article 1 of the Code),” the AFL said in a statement.
“Smith will continue to be provisionally suspended pending the finalisation of all of these matters, meaning he is not permitted to be part of Melbourne’s football program, including Melbourne’s pre-season training that is currently underway.
“Under the code, the new asserted ADRVs will be further investigated by SIA and these matters may ultimately be heard by an AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in the coming months.”
However, a statement released by the Demons claimed the article is ‘not reflective of Joel’s views’.
“The Melbourne Football Club has been advised by the AFL that further Anti-Doping Rule Violations have been asserted against Joel Smith by Sport Integrity Australia,” the statement reads.
“The Melbourne Football Club is not authorised to make public comment while this is an ongoing matter that is being investigated by Sport Integrity Australia.
Joel Smith. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
“It should be noted since the article has been published on the Herald Sun website, Joel’s management has contacted the Club on his behalf to advise that the comments made by the source within the article are not reflective of Joel’s views and the source is not speaking on any authority from Joel.
“Joel has made it very clear that he has no issues or concerns with anyone at the Melbourne Football Club.
“As the Club has previously stated, we will wait for the investigation to be completed before we update our supporters further.”
Smith has been unable to train with the Demons this pre-season with his doping case still ongoing, with the latest developments certain to cloud his AFL future even further.
The 27-year old, who turns 28 on Sunday, has played 42 games for the club, including a career-high 14 in 2023 as he established himself in the Demons’ forward line.
The Herald Sun report featured a suggestion from an unnamed source that Smith would be ‘scapegoated’ by the AFL and the Demons, with the club’s drugs problems running far deeper.
“It looks like they are planning to hang Joel out to dry for behaviour that is commonplace at Melbourne,” the source said
“Joel might be foolish but he’s hardly Tony Mokbel… the club should be taking responsibility for what is happening to Joel instead of blaming him in order to cover up a much wider problem.
“Joel is not a bad apple in a barrel of clean ones – the whole joint is rotten.”
Demons coach Simon Goodwin and CEO Gary Pert strongly denied the club had a culture problem during an SEN interview in October 2023, amid a turbulent off-season for the club that saw Smith’s allegations come to light in addition to a series of off-field indiscretions from star midfielder Clayton Oliver that led to him taking an indefinite break from the club.