Call for open hearing into Essendon supplements issue AFL legend Leigh Matthews and former league operations manager Adrian Anderson have both called for the AFL commission to make the hearing into the Essendon drugs saga public. The pair offered their opinions during The Decision, a special program on Channel 7 on Tuesday night discussing the AFL's announcement that Essendon and key figures James Hird, Mark Thompson, Dr Bruce Reid and Danny Corcoran had all been charged with bringing the game into disrepute for their roles in overseeing the Bombers' supplements program. Essendon has made it clear it will fight all the charges including those brought against its officials. Matthews said the commission needed to open the hearing, scheduled for August 26, because the football public did not know the specific actions Bombers officials were alleged to have committed to bring the game into disrepute. "The evidence is still to come, there are no specifics of what has alleged to have been done," Matthews said. I hope the hearing is open to the public so we can see what these specifics are. Anderson was directly asked if he supported a public hearing and he agreed. "I'd be a supporter of that, it's not something that has happened in the past but it's been considered," he said. Tribunal hearings are open for disciplinary matters that have occurred on the field. There has been a lot of public confusion throughout this and not a lot of information about the basis for the charges; hopefully that will come out over the coming weeks. Anderson also said the timing of the charges was clearly an attempt by the league to conclude the matter before the finals and maintain the "integrity" of that part of the season. He wouldn't give an opinion on whether the Bombers should lose premiership points but said it was possible, as any penalty could be given for a charge of bringing the game into disrepute. Sports doctor Peter Larkins, who was also on the show, speaking from Montreal, said the AFL had every right to bring charges under its code of conduct but ASADA would now need to make a statement about the status of AOD-9604 and its investigation into what substances Bombers players were given during the supplements program. The AFL statement said there was not enough evidence to support any infraction notices to players but the investigation remained ongoing. That statement has been interpreted as meaning the players will be cleared of any infractions. "There is a missing piece of the puzzle from their (WADA's) point of view," Larkins said. ASADA has to make a clear statement, hopefully within in the next 24 hours, that the players have no case to answer. The anti-doping infraction, if it's to come about, has to come from ASADA, it's not an AFL issue. So it's up to ASADA to make it very, very clear what its position is in respect to the substances that may have been used. Until that comes out, we really can't be definitive that the AFL position completely removes the players from the equation. Larkins said a conflict of opinion remained between WADA's advice that AOD-9064 was banned in 2011 and ASADA's reported advice to Essendon that it was not banned. "This has been one of the key issues between WADA and ASADA so to speak," Larkins said. WADA made it clear in its statement in April that in 2011 the product was a prohibited substance but ASADA, I believe, has given a different opinion to Essendon. So it really is on ASADA now to clarify the player's position once and for all, completely. Bombers legend Tim Watson, whose son Jobe is captain of Essendon, said the announcement was bitter-sweet because his son looked to have been cleared of any drug infractions but four close friends faced serious charges. He said he wouldn't be surprised if Essendon looked to challenge the AFL in court, taking the decision away from the commission. "I think they (Essendon) have been defiant up to this point of time," Watson said. I think they are, and we saw Bomber Thompson's reaction on another show [AFL 360] last (Monday) night - they will go down swinging. The club won't be complicit with what the AFL wants. These fellows may want to challenge the AFL in another forum, it will be interesting to see how it plays out.