Former Brisbane Lions player Rhys Mathieson has been handed a three-year ban for violating the Australian football anti-doping code, a finding that will be announced soon.

Mathieson’s penalty - slated to be announced by the AFL and Sport Integrity Australia - has been reduced from a maximum of four years, following discussions with the parties, in part because of his admission of fault and the delays in the case which began in August 2024.

Mathieson has been under provisional suspension for a breach of the doping code, via a positive test to a banned substance.

This masthead has contacted Mathieson for comment.

Mathieson, a tough midfielder who played 72 senior games for the Brisbane Lions before his delisting at the end of 2023, had been playing for the Wilston Grange Gorillas in the

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