The AFL believes their year-long suspension of former West Coast skipper Ben Cousins will send a message to players and supporters that they are committed to cleaning up off-field behaviour.

The 29-year-old was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute, after a closed hearing by the AFL Commission at the league's Melbourne headquarters which lasted eight hours.

The AFL banned him from playing, training with, or being drafted by any of the competition's clubs for the next 12 months.

A contrite but "bitterly disappointed" Cousins accepted the league's decision and apologised for his behaviour.

"I would like to apologise to the AFL and its players and supporters for the embarrassment that my conduct has brought to the game," Cousins said in a brief statement.

Flanked by manager Ricky Nixon, lawyer David Grace and his parents Bryan and Steph, he also publicly admitted for the first time that he was battling to overcome drug addiction and pleaded for privacy as he continued the fight.

The door was left open for the 2005 Brownlow Medallist and 2006 premiership player to resume his decorated career in 2009, but he will need to meet several guidelines laid down by the AFL.

They include cooperating with a rehabilitation and drug testing program set out by AFL-nominated medical experts and avoiding a relapse.

In the meantime, he could be offered a football lifeline by the West Australian Football League (WAFL), with the AFL ruling only applying to their own competition.

The WA Football Commission said in a statement it was seeking further information before deciding whether to allow Cousins, who is tied to WAFL club East Fremantle, to play in their competition next year.

League chairman Mike Fitzpatrick said it was a "sad day" for the AFL, but one on which the commission fulfilled their responsibility to the game as a whole and sent a message to the community.

"People will form their own judgments about the action of the AFL Commission today, but I want to send a strong message to everyone who loves Australian Football," Fitzpatrick said.

"The message is simple, the AFL is committed to tackling the issues that confront our game.

"... I want to reassure our supporters that the AFL is tackling these issues through developing a stronger player behaviour code ... and examining how we can improve and enhance our illicit drugs policy and confront an issue that is also faced by many thousands of Australian families."

He refused to detail which of Cousins' behavioural breaches had led to the charge against him being sustained.

Fitzpatrick said Cousins was "frank and very believable and very honest" in front of the commission, but the AFL had agreed to keep the details of the hearing confidential.

Cousins was sacked by the Eagles last month after being arrested by West Australian police, who charged him with drug-related offences.

The charges were subsequently dropped, but the club maintained they were right to sack him, while the AFL stuck by their decision to charge him, with both parties saying their actions related to an accumulation of offences, rather than a particular incident.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said whether Cousins ever played again depended on how he responded to the rehabilitation process.

"We're going to support him through that but as I said earlier the rest is up to him," he said.

Demetriou said other players should heed the message sent by the decision.

"If you're a player out there that isn't appreciating the privilege that you've been given, isn't understanding that these opportunities don't come around that often, if you're willing to transgress or behave in a manner that is going to bring disrepute to our game, the commission will have no hesitation in dealing with it whatsoever," he said.

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