The AFL Commission has a decision to make on whether Jobe Watson keeps his Brownlow medal after a Swiss Court appeal from the 34 current and former Essendon players banned for doping failed.
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Relevant players managers were informed on Tuesday evening Melbourne time that the appeal, which followed the suspension of the players by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in January, had been rejected. It is understood costs will be awarded against the players.
In a statement posted to the club website late on Tuesday night, Essendon chairman LIndsay Tanner said the ruling was "obviously disappointing for our players" and the club maintained the CAS ban was "manifestly unfair".
"The Club respected and supported the players decision to exercise the only legal right to appeal they had in this process," he said.
The AFL Players' Association was looking through the judgment - handed down in German - before it could explain the decision to relevant parties. All 34 players were banned from playing for the duration of the 2016 season. All the bans expire by December meaning the 10 Bombers returning to the club next season - including Dons captain Watson - will still be free to play next year. So too will the handful of other banned players who are now at other AFL clubs.
The decision paves the way for Essendon to begin finalising the compensation it will pay to the affected players.
The AFL had invited Watson, who won the 2012 Brownlow, to make a submission to the Commission on whether he should be able to keep the award.
A decision was deferred until after the appeal - which took written submissions only - took place in Switzerland.
The 34 current and former Bombers who took part in the 2012 supplements program overseen by Stephen Dank were suspended for 12 months in January by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
CAS heard the players' case after WADA appealed the AFL anti-doping tribunal's not-guilty verdict in March last year.
Despite the events of 2012 occurring in Australia, it appears Swiss law has been deemed as appropriate to apply to the players. Patrick Gordon of Slater and Gordon lawyers - who represents banned pair Stewart Crameri and Brent Prismall - said the news would hit the players hard.
"We can't know the reasons yet. (They're) in German. I've been informing players. It is very gruelling on them," Gordon said.
The AFLPA were informed before the AFL, who were not aware of the news as of early on Tuesday evening.
Watson, 31, had agonised over his decision to fulfil the final year of his contract with the Bombers in 2017 - before deciding to play on last month. He said at the time that the doubt over his Brownlow didn't consume him.
"[The Brownlow] doesn't define me," Watson said.
"As I touched on, your life is so long and there's so many different parts and peaks and troughs. The thing about why I felt I needed to leave is because I wasn't happy. And life is too short not to be happy. It passes you by. It's not infinite, your time in the game isn't infinite, your time on earth isn't infinite. One day someone will just take it away from you and so I really feel like whatever happens is out of my control, and I'll deal with it accordingly."
