Make ASADA judge, jury, executioner The world's foremost anti-drugs crusader, US Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart, has called for the NRL and AFL to hand over their power to sanction drug cheats to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. The probe into the Australian footballing codes is edging towards a conclusion as ASADA works through interviews with the 31 rugby league players of interest. Should they be presented with sufficient evidence by ASADA, the NRL will issue players with an infraction notice which details a player's options in accepting a nominated penalty under the WADA code or proceeding to a hearing before the NRL Anti-Doping Tribunal. However, Tygart - one of the key men responsible for exposing cyclist Lance Armstrong as a cheat - believes there's a conflict of interest if a sporting body is responsible for sanctioning its own players. "Absolutely - you can't police your own sport, even in the first instance," Tygart told Fairfax Media. Even if they go to CAS [the Court of Arbitration for Sport] for an appeal, but you have to have the entity that knows the facts, that weighs the credibility of the witnesses, to present the case in front of independent judges. Sport organisers and administrators are going to take every inference or piece of evidence in favour to itself, to not embarrass themselves. It calls into question the legitimacy of the decision coming out of sport. We saw the Spanish Cycling Federation in the [Alberto] Contador case - sport organisations don't have the expertise and aren't in the best position to independently weigh [evidence], particularly in non-analytical cases without a positive test. ASADA has given the AFL its interim report, while interviews with NRL players continue this month. Tygart had a simple piece of advice for those getting grilled. What we required from all of our witnesses was, number one, the truth. And number two, full and complete truthful testimony," he said. I would advise every athlete to do the same. That's what's going to get them credibility. Even if they doped, their redemption will come very easily. Forgiveness is easily obtained by sports fans, as it should be. We all make mistakes and no one is perfect - everyone knows that. What we want to see is acceptance and responsibility. The way you do that is being full and truthful and complete in what you provide. Tygart described the investigations as the "tipping moment for Australian sport." "Hopefully ... people realise that Australia is not immune from these same pressures of drug use and organised crime or whatever may be that's going to undermine the integrity of sport," he said. Hopefully it will further the resolve of all of those who love sport to do even more to protect it. Hopefully it will send a powerful deterrent message to the next generation of athletes that there are no shortcuts to athletic success. That's why every case is critically important, to be handled thoroughly and fairly but ultimately in line with the evidence for the purpose of clean sport and the integrity of sport. Twitter - @proshenks