AFL Chief Executive Gill McLachlan:

The Australian Football League (AFL) was formally notified overnight that the appeal lodged by past and present Essendon players with the Swiss Federal Tribunal, against the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling, was not successful.

The AFL accepts and acknowledges this Tribunal ruling and the AFL Commission repeats the statement it made when the CAS finding was handed down in January earlier this year - the AFL is fully committed to clean sport, for the sake of all players from all clubs in our competition.

The final decision by the Federal Tribunal means that the AFL Commission must now consider the matter of the Brownlow Medal, which was won by Jobe Watson for the 2012 season.

The Commission will meet on Tuesday November 15 in Melbourne. As stated earlier this year, it is the AFL's view that the AFL Commission must determine this matter.

The next Commission meeting in November will provide the appropriate amount of time for all relevant parties to prepare.