West Coast Eagles forward Willie Rioli will be able to make an AFL comeback in 2021 with the young gun set to be handed a backdated two-year ban.
Rioli accepted a provisional suspension in August 2019 after an adverse analytical finding for substituting a urine sample and was facing a potential four-year ban.
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However, the 25-year-old forward will now be free to return this year, having already served 18 months of the ban, with a formal announcement expected this afternoon.
News of the suspension handed down to Rioli comes after West Coast CEO Trevor Nisbett had indicated that a verdict was "imminent" last week.
"Hopefully over the next two weeks at a maximum we'll have a final outcome where we can tell everyone what it is, and we can get Willie back on some sort of course back to football but also his meaningful life," Nisbett told 6PR.
Rioli has played 38 games for West Coast and was a part of the Eagles' successful 2018 premiership team.
His last game for the Eagles was in the 2019 elimination final against Essendon where he recorded 15 disposals and kicked a goal.
Rioli is contracted with West Coast through the 2022 season.
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