It comes after the local authority, ASADA, chose not to appeal the decision. WADA director-general David Howman. Credit:AP Essendon coach James Hird said he was surprised by WADA's decision to appeal, after the AFL anti-doping tribunal found that it was not comfortably satisfied that the players had been given banned substances. He said he was prepared to go through the process again to prove his players had not done anything wrong. Hird was subdued when he faced the media outside the St Kilda Sea Baths, where his players were in the middle of a recovery session.

"We were shocked. I think everyone around the club, everyone around Melbourne thought this wouldn't happen," he said. Hird said his players were found "innocent" - repeating the word several times - after a two and a half year investigation. Hird said he did not know when or where the new hearing would take place, and had no idea how long the process would drag on. "It's a distraction but we'll get through it, we'll prove our innocence again." Hird said the process could last into next year, but the players and club would respect the process.

The AFL and Essendon had hoped WADA would opt not to appeal, finally freeing the 34 players involved in the supplements saga of the controversy. The players remain under threat of suspension as a result of the decision. The decision was confirmed in a statement from WADA director general David Howman on Tuesday morning. "We have now completed our independent review of the full case file on the AFL Anti-Doping Appeals Tribunal decision regarding 34 current and former Essendon players," the statement read. "After a thorough examination of the evidence contained within the file, WADA has decided to lodge its independent right of appeal to the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. "As with all pending cases, and adhering to the proper and normal respect for the integrity of the legal process, WADA will refrain from commenting further on the subject until a decision has been made by CAS."

Essendon chairman Paul Little said the club was blindsided by the news of the appeal. "It has really taken us all by surprise," Little told Triple M on Tuesday morning. "Everyone involved has pretty much got their lives back ... but now it looks like we have to jump back on the horse." However, he said while the Essendon players would be again required to show "extraordinary resilience" he did not believe the fallout would affect the season. AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said he was unfazed by WADA's decision.

"It was (going to be) one way or the other and I was matter of fact about it," McLachlan said. He said the AFL was not a party to the proceedings and he knew little about WADA's position. "I think we have standing which means our lawyers can be in the room but this is something between the Essendon playing group and WADA in a different jurisdiction so we're not really a party to the case," McLachlan said. Little told SEN early on Tuesday that Essendon had not yet spoken to the AFL but would do so later on Tuesday. "Clearly we'll talk to [AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan] very shortly and we'll get further clarity around their advice and input."

"It's a massive distraction for all concerned and we need to get it resolved." Little said it was a priority to notify the players and it was being done first thing on Tuesday morning. When asked if there would be an appeal option should CAS uphold WADA's appeal, Little said it would take "a brave man now to say there's no further right to appeal" but would need to take legal advice on that. ASADA issued a response early on Tuesday morning that said it "welcomes" WADA's decision to continue the case and appeal. ASADA CEO Ben McDevitt said the government-funded national doping agency, which has been under fierce scrutiny and criticism throughout the ordeal that commenced in February 2013, would "fully support" WADA through its CAS appeal.

Former ASADA boss Richard Ings called the move by WADA "courageous". It is anticipated the hearing would not occur for at least three months, and perhaps as many as five months, meaning the case may climax on the eve of the AFL's 2015 finals series. Implicated Essendon players are permitted to play throughout the process. New evidence can be tendered in a CAS hearing. The standard of proof is "comfortable satisfaction". Ings says if the verdict is reached by Christmas this year it will have been "fast".

He believes the hearing itself will last for two to four weeks, with the whole process taking between three to five months. WADA has only appealed to CAS twice on Australian sports doping matters. It lost both of those cases. Lawyer and Fairfax Media columnist Darren Kane, analysing the case, recently said ASADA's case, which relied on "a dumpster full of circumstantial evidence such as emails, intercepted text messages, possibly bogus invoices, transcripts and newspaper scrapbooks" fell "so horrendously short of the mark". "Unless a visit from the magical evidence genie is impending, it is impossible to understand how WADA will do any better," he said. Regardless of WADA's decision, Stephen Dank, the architect of the supplements program, will appeal the 10 guilty findings against him made by the AFL's anti-doping tribunal, despite his not having attended and or given evidence in the initial hearing. This appeal will be heard from June 9.