St Kilda AFL forward Ahmed Saad has been named in media reports as the player facing a two-year ban over an irregular drug test sample.
The AFL is investigating whether a Saints player took a banned substance after he provided an irregular sample this month.
Fairfax Media reports have named the player as small forward Saad.
It also says the player is claiming he took the substance unwittingly.
Neither St Kilda or the AFL has commented on the issue, nor confirmed the player’s identity.
Saad, 23, has not played for the seniors since early July when he was in the Saints’ team which lost to Fremantle.
If charged, the player would face an AFL Tribunal hearing.
Under the World Anti-Doping Agency code, use or possession of a prohibited substance can lead to a two-year ban for a first violation.
Richmond’s Justin Charles and Hawthorn’s Travis Tuck are the only AFL players to be suspended over banned drugs.
Charles was suspended for 16 weeks in 1997 for testing positive to an anabolic steroid.
Tuck was banned for 12 weeks in 2010 for registering a third strike under the AFL’s illicit drugs policy.