Drug-taking Australian football star Tuck outed for 12 weeks

Australian Football League (AFL) star Travis Tuck was suspended for 12 weeks and fined 5,000 dollars (4,470 U.S. dollars), and became the first player of Hawthorn Hawk league to be punished under the league's illicit drugs policy, local media reported on Wednesday.

According to The Australian newspaper, Tuck, an Australian Rules Footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Hawks in the AFL, has triggered the AFL's three-strikes code when police found him unconscious in a car in the southeastern Melbourne suburb of Berwick last Friday night.

The midfielder faced a maximum 18-week ban under the code, but a tribunal headed by retired County Court judge John Hassett opted for a lighter penalty following evidence that Tuck had received treatment for clinical depression for the past 10 months, a driving factor in his drug use.

He will be allowed to compete in pre-season matches before the ban begins, with a return at a lower level possible after eight weeks.

Earlier there have been report unveiling the Hawthorn Hawk club officials, other than medical staff, are not told a player has been caught using illicit drugs until he tests positive for a third time.

Hawthorn chief executive Stuart Fox later told the media that the code had failed the player, and that the club would pursue the matter further.

The Australian newspaper on Wednesday said Hawthorn Hawk football league has already faced heavy criticism, while Tuck's case has added further pressure on the AFL's policy on illicit drugs use.

Police said on Tuesday that Tuck would not face criminal charges.

Source: Xinhua