Essendon could lose AFL premiership points if they are found guilty of breaching anti-doping rules.
The Bombers are under AFL and Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigations because of a controversial supplements program at the club last year.
AFL general manager of football operations Mark Evans said on Monday that various options will be considered if the Bombers are found guilty following the completion of ASADA’s investigation.
The league hopes ASADA will announce its findings next month.
“It is certainly within the scope of the (AFL) Commission to do that, but it will be a Commission decision once it has been tabled,” Evans told AFL.com.au’s Access All Areas when asked if Essendon could lose premiership points.
The James Hird-coached Bombers are third this season with a 10-3 record.
Essendon’s internal investigation into governance has already described what was going on at the club in 2012 as a “pharmacologically experimental environment never adequately controlled or challenged”.
Richmond midfielder Daniel Jackson has sympathy for Essendon players involved in the AFL club’s anti-doping investigation, saying it appears they followed strict guidelines on taking supplements.
The crisis flared again a week ago when Bombers captain Jobe Watson admitted he believed he took the banned substance AOD-9604.
Watson said club medical staff cleared the anti-obesity drug.
“Until ASADA come out and put some of the facts on the table … it’s hard for us to understand,” Jackson told FoxSports’ On The Couch program.
“In regards to the processes, it does seem that the players were left in a pretty tough position – that they asked (for permission), as far as we are aware.
“Again, it’s opinion, it’s not yet been proven a fact, but they asked the question of the doctor.
“As a player, that’s what we’re told to do, run everything that we take by the club doctor.
“So it’s a tough position and I do sympathise with them.”