PEEL Thunder's Leroy Jetta will miss the entire 2016 season, after a stunning decision by sport's court of arbitration, which found current and former Essendon players guilty of doping offences.
34 players will miss the coming season after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld a World Anti-Doping Agency appeal.
Forward Leroy Jetta has received a ban to February 15, 2017, which is several months longer than most players.
The ruling means that, barring any further legal appeals, most players, including Jetta, will miss all of 2016 season.
In a stunning reversal of the AFL tribunal decision that cleared the Essendon players last March, CAS said it was comfortably satisfied that the 2012 players had taken the banned substance thymosin beta-4.
While the players were handed the mandatory two-year bans and were found to be significantly at fault, the CAS indicated most of the 34 would be suspended until November this year, depending on the backdating that applies in each case.
They did not receive the major discount for "no significant fault, no significant negligence" which can cut a sentence drastically.
In a statement Australian Sports Anti‑Doping Authority chief Ben McDevitt said: "This unfortunate episode has chronicled the most devastating self-inflicted injury by a sporting club in Australian history".
"At best, the players did not ask the questions, or the people, they should have. At worst, they were complicit in a culture of secrecy and concealment."
