Ben Cousins will find it "extremely difficult" if he attempts to return to football at the top level, says Australian Football League chief executive Andrew Demetriou.
Demetriou said yesterday that disgraced 2005 Brownlow Medallist Cousins was no longer a registered AFL player after being sacked by his WestCoast club.
"I think it is going to be very difficult for him, extremely difficult," Demetriou told ABC Radio.
"The West Coast Eagles have terminated his services. On the basis of being terminated, he is no longer a registered player in the AFL.
"If he sought to try and play football again, he would have to nominate for the draft, and that would be a decision for the AFL Commission as to whether we would accept his nomination or not."
Former Eagles captain Cousins was due to appear in the Perth Magistrates Court to face a drug possession charge.
He was arrested in Perth's entertainment district of Northbridge on Tuesday and charged with possessing an illegal drug and refusing to take a blood test.
West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett announced that Cousins' contract had been terminated and there was no chance he would play for the Eagles again.
Sports Minister George Brandis has used Cousins' downfall to repeat his call for the AFL to toughen its "three strikes" drug policy.
But Demetriou said that it would not have mattered what the AFL's drug policy was, as he considered Cousins had serious health issues.
"He's endeavoured to be rehabilitated and he's relapsed," he said.
"I would say to you whether we had a one strike, two strike or three strike policy, it's more than likely that the same thing would have occurred."
