THE AFL Commission will meet in a month’s time to decide whether Jobe Watson will keep his 2012 Brownlow Medal after 34 players lost their appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

The Commission will discuss and finalise Watson’s Brownlow fate when it meets on November 15 in Melbourne.

League headquarters was officially notified on Tuesday night that the appeal lodged by the 34 past and present Essendon players suspended for an anti-doping breach had been unsuccessful.

Watson’s Brownlow shapes as one of the last major issues in the case yet to be resolved. The players are also in negotiations with Essendon over compensation payments for their suspensions and related issues.

Finals Week 1

MARKET WATCH: CLICK HERE FOR TRADE NEWS, ANALYSIS AND VIDEO

“As stated earlier this year, it is the AFL’s view that the AFL Commission must determine this matter,” a league statement read.

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

The lawyers for the players confirmed that the appeal was rejected, meaning the suspensions and guilty finding by the Court of Arbitration for Sport stand.

The players, through their legal representation, argued that if Australian law applied, then the charges against the players should be thrown out. But the Swiss court has found that Swiss law governed the CAS finding, not Australian.

The case was held in German with the judgement also given in German. The players had a lawyer arguing for them in Switzerland. If successful the appeal would not have helped the players who have already served their suspensions, which saw them miss the entirety of the 2016 season.

The players have already returned to train with some restrictions on what they are allowed to do at their clubs, their suspension technically ending in November.

Four senior retired judges, including one retired High Court judge, that gave opinions on behalf of the players. All four judges argued that Australian law should apply in this case — an argument that was rejected by the court.

CATCH AFL TONIGHT LIVE FROM 6.30PM ON FOX SPORTS NEWS 500 (7PM REPLAY ON FOX FOOTY), OR CLICK HERE TO WATCH ONLINE

In effect, the arguments put forward by the players’ representation were not even considered by the court. Those arguments would only have relevance if the court was willing to use Australian law.

The appeal was effectively funded by Essendon’s insurers, who are also dealing with the ongoing compensation claims by the 34 past and present players, of whom 16 have remained in the AFL system.

Stewart Crameri (Western Bulldogs), Paddy Ryder and Angus Monfries (Port Adelaide), Jake Carlisle (St Kilda) and Jake Melksham (Melbourne) are all at other clubs with Michael Hibberd set to join Melksham at the Demons. The other 10 are back at Essendon.

Watson’s Brownlow is under review by the AFL because he won it in 2012, the season in which the CAS was ‘comfortably satisfied’ that the players had been administered the banned peptide thymosin beta-4.