AFL chief Andrew Demetriou says it was time the public, Essendon’s players and their families knew the details of the charges against the club.

Demetriou fronted a packed media conference at AFL House on Wednesday to read from a prepared statement detailing the process of how the charges laid against the Bombers had been released.

As a member of the AFL Commission, Demetriou said he was unable to take questions on the charges.

Essendon, their coach James Hird and three other Bombers officials have been charged by the league over the club’s 2012 supplements program, which is still under investigation by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

The charges of bringing the game into disrepute were scheduled to be heard by the AFL Commission next Monday, but all parties have sought extra time.

The charges follow a six-month investigation which included more than 13,000 documents, Demetriou said.

“We have made available the charges and the ASADA report to the AFL Players’ Association so that the documents can be reviewed by the players from the Essendon Football Club and their families,” Demetriou said.

“The duty of care to players is a fundamental responsibility of the AFL Commission and all AFL clubs,” Demetriou continued.

“Given the level of public interest in this matter, we have also released details of the charges against Essendon this morning.

“This is consistent with the view I have expressed in recent weeks that the charges should be released given the amount of information and speculation which has been in the public domain for the past six months, Demetriou said.

“Our game enjoys an extraordinary level of support and we believe the public should receive as much information about the matters alleged as is reasonably possible so they can better understand the issues involved.”

Demetriou said the release of the information was consistent with Essendon’s decision to publish the findings of their internal review, led by former Telstra boss Ziggy Switkowski, into governance issues at the club earlier this year.

The AFL boss said clubs, supporters, players and other key partners deserved clarity and transparency around the issue.

But like a letter from the western front, there’s plenty of stuff blacked out in the 34-page “statement of grounds”.

“The AFL notes that certain confidential parts of the state of grounds have been redacted,” Demetriou said.