MELBOURNE, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Court of Arbitration for Sport has announced that 34 current or former players from the Essendon Australian Rules football club should be suspended for the 2016 season.
The CAS upheld World Anti-Doping Agency's appeal against the decision of the Australian Football League's anti-doping tribunal last March to clear the players of taking the banned substance thymosin-beta 4 in 2012.
In a statement, the CAS said it was satisfied the players had taken the banned substance and were significantly at fault, imposing mandatory two-year bans. CAS said most of the 34 would be suspended until Nov. 13 this year, depending on the backdating that applies in each case.
The court rejected an argument of "no significant fault, no significant negligence" which could have drastically reduced the sentences.