The Court of Arbitration for Sport found 34 past and present Australian Football League side Essendon players guilty of taking banned substance Thymosin Beta-4 and suspended them for the entire '16 season. Twelve players still on the Bombers' list and five who have moved to other AFL clubs have been hit with two-year bans beginning on March 31 last year. However, most of the suspensions will come to an end on Nov. 13, taking into account provisional suspensions already served. Bombers captain Jobe Watson has been suspended eight days longer -- until Nov. 21 -- after he took part in the 2014 Int'l Rules series. Watson is also likely to also face scrutiny over his 2012 Brownlow Medal win. The decision, which is final, overturns the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal's not guilty verdict from last March, following an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Authority. In a statement, CAS said it found to its "comfortable satisfaction that Clause 11.2 of the 2010 AFL Doping Code (use of a prohibited substance) has been violated and found by a majority that all players were significantly at fault." New Essendon Chair Lindsay Tanner confirmed the news. He said in a statement, "The club is currently digesting the decision and we will provide a further update later today" (AFL).
