THE AFL will not force Essendon to include payments for players' legal fees in the club's salary cap if they face any anti-doping breaches.
The League confirmed on Friday it would allow the club to pay for current and former players' legal bills after a request from the Bombers to cover any expenses related to the ASADA investigation.
Andrew Dillon, the League's general counsel, said the expenses would be exempt from the total player payments, likening the scenario to when a club pays for a player's legal expenses when challenging a charge at the Tribunal.
"It has been determined that the reimbursement of legal expenses incurred by players that relate directly to defending any potential breach of the AFL Anti-Doping Code shall be excluded from the club's Total Player Payments," Dillon said.
"This is in accordance with current practice whereby clubs organise and pay for player's legal expenses when they are contesting a charge at the AFL Tribunal or appearing before the Appeals Board."
Some rival club figures had suggested that if the costs were incurred they should be included in the Bombers' salary cap.
ASADA's long-running investigation is drawing to a close, with its new chief executive Ben McDevitt telling a Senate hearing this week that its focus was on accuracy and not timing.
"We do have reputations hanging in the balance and potentially people's careers could be damaged," McDevitt said on Tuesday.
"We want to do it quickly but we want to get it right ... we are talking weeks here, not months."
