CAS has handed down a stunning 12-month ban after upholding the WADA appeal against 34 current and former Essendon players.
Current and former Essendon players are banned for this AFL season because of doping, after the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed down a stunning verdict on Tuesday.
CAS upheld the World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal against the AFL tribunal decision to clear 34 players of taking the banned substance thymosin-beta 4.
It is understood half those players from Essendon's 2012 list are still in the AFL - 12 with the Bombers and five at other clubs.
'Miscarriage of justice': Hird slams bans
James Hird has labelled 12-month suspensions handed to 34 current and former AFL players as a "miscarriage of justice".
While it was always felt that the final decision could go either way, the severity of the ban is another unexpected twist in the saga.
There had been speculation that the players' two-year bans could be backdated so heavily that they would only miss a handful of games or even none at all.
Essendon had always been confident any punishment would be minimal.
The CAS verdict is most likely the last step in the official anti-doping process that started on February 5, 2012 when Essendon announced they were coming under a joint AFL and ASADA investigation.
