Moss Brothers: Suspended For What?

It has come to light that Matt Moss and Jake Moss have officially had their MA licences suspended for reasons that are yet to be officially divulged.

Following the article we posted last Friday, entitled Moss Brothers: What Investigation?, some of the social media response we received criticised the piece for failing to reveal new information. So, let us reiterate…

The intention of that article was not to point fingers or fuel conjecture. It aimed to rein in the rampant speculation surrounding the Moss brothers’ disappearance from the MX Nats paddock, and present only the facts of the matter in a chronological, coherent way.

Subsequent to Friday’s article, another fact has come to light: that Matt Moss and Jake Moss have both had their Motorcycling Australia (MA) licences suspended. Their names appear on a “Suspended Rider List” – lists that are published on the websites of MA’s state bodies. Matt Moss is on the Suspended Rider List on the MNSW website, while Jake Moss appears on the Suspended Rider List on the MQld website.

So, yesterday, we went back to Motorcycling Australia’s Sports Director and acting CEO, Peter Doyle, and asked him why Matt and Jake appear on those publically available Suspended Rider Lists.

Speaking in generalities and focused on the process rather than details of the Moss brothers’ case, Doyle told Transmoto that, “Riders are placed on the Suspended Rider list for a number of reasons – medical, monetary (fines) and disciplinary. In case of riders placed on the list for disciplinary reasons, the situation usually is that allegations have been made against a competitor, and the competitor has the right to respond by either denying or confirming the allegations. Until that response is received, there can be no announcement from Motorcycling Australia due to confidentiality. Only the competitor can make any statement. Once a competitor makes a public statement on any allegations, then the sanctioning bodies can respond. In regard to the specific riders you mentioned, you will need to take the matter up with them.”

In other words, Doyle remains very limited in what he is at liberty to say on-the-record, and everyone’s hands are tied until such time as Matt and Jake Moss respond to the allegations.

This morning, a month after the allegations were made, Jake Moss finally made a statement (via his Facebook page – see screenshot below) to clarify the nature of the allegations and to explain that he is in the process of challenging those results. But in the absence of any official statement from ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority) or MA, it’s not yet clear whether Jake’s Facebook statement officially constitutes a “response”, as outlined above by Doyle. Just hours after Jake made his statement, Matt Moss provided a similar update via his Facebook page. Neither Matt nor Jake have returned Transmoto’s calls.

Stay tuned for developments.