Geoffrey Gibson is an Australian writer and lawyer. He has practised law as either a member of the Bar or a major international law firm. He has presided over at least one statutory tribunal for more than thirty years and he has conducted arbitrations or mediations in Australia and the U S. He writes: "They should never have had to face charges on these issues that did not call for proof of intent. They should never have had to face fixed penalties. They should never have been required to exculpate themselves on penalty once a finding on strict liability had been made. They should never have been faced with a second prosecution after they succeeded on the first. The prosecutors should not have been allowed to change their case. The identical sentences for very different cases are demonstrably unjust and logically untenable. The CAS Panel did not say that any Essendon footballer had sought to gain, or that he had gained, an unlawful competitive advantage. So, whatever else the Panel found, it did not make any express finding of against any player of cheating. The Panel found on the basis of circumstantial and expert evidence that its members were comfortably satisfied that the players had – and that every one of them had – taken some prohibited substance of a quantity that they could not specify, and with consequences that they did not attempt to make any finding upon. Then they found that they were satisfied, to an unspecified level of comfort, that the players had not discharged the onus that the Code put upon them to prove that they had acted without relevant ‘fault’. It is remarkable, indeed, that the CAS Panel could make this finding against each one of the 34 accused without separately ruling on the evidence that related to each one of them. Is it seriously contended that each of the 34 footballers was equally culpably uninquisitive about what was going into his body? Is the Panel really saying that they were all equally dumb or naughty?" Read his blog via the link below. Please read, consider, and sign the petition. If you have already signed, please share this petition using any of the links below. Thank you again for your support