Former Melbourne club doctor Zeeshan Arain has defended the AFL’s controversial illicit drugs policy, and expressed hope the shock revelations made by federal MP Andrew Wilkie under parliamentary privilege won’t have a detrimental effect on player welfare.

Arain, who left the Demons in 2020 in acrimonious circumstances after his relationship with coach Simon Goodwin fractured, told The Age his aim in providing a statement as part of Mr Wilkie’s explosive claims was to ‘expose cultural problems’ in the AFL concerning the widespread use of illicit drugs.

He also described the league’s controversial policy, which includes players reportedly faking injuries to withdraw from games and avoid violating Sports Integrity Australia match-day testing for illicit substances, as ‘probably one of the better things the AFL does’.

“I wasn’t attacking the illicit drugs policy… I wanted to expose cultural problems, not off-the-books testing,” Arain told The Age.

“My comments about the testing were just factual. I wasn’t revealing a scandal. The illicit drugs policy is probably one of the better things the AFL does. If this becomes a strict name and shame policy and I have contributed to that, I will feel really remorseful for the players.

“I don’t want to be seen as a hero whistleblower, I just want to be someone who advocates for the mental and physical wellbeing of players in a high-pressure industry.”

Arain claimed to The Age he was dismissed by the Demons shortly after expressing concern about Goodwin’s treatment of both him and the playing group, which ended in a workplace bullying and unfair dismissal claim against the club which was quietly settled.

He believes up to a third of the player group during his time at the club were ‘frequent users’ of illicit drugs, while another third were recreational users – also included in his list of concerns was coach Goodwin, around whom rumours of drug use were categorically dismissed by him and club CEO Gary Pert in an interview with SEN in late 2023.

The club became mired in controversy and criticism of its culture after forward Joel Smith was indefinitely suspended after testing positive for cocaine before a match against Hawthorn late last year; he has since been additionally charged with drug trafficking.

Arain’s claims have been partially disputed by the league, with follow-up allegations from club insiders that up to 100 AFL players have circumvented the league’s ‘three strikes’ drug policy, which is intended to hand players suspensions for second and third positive tests described as being ‘wildly exaggerated’ by AFL CEO Andrew Dillon.

The league has staunchly defended its policy, but is set to revamp the ‘three strikes’ policy to include more significant punishments for players testing positive for illicit substances.

However, early reports suggest the league will retain the first strike element of the policy, with players not punished beyond mandatory counselling sessions after a first positive test.