Several AFL clubs had concerns about signing Jake Carlisle, Western Bulldogs president Peter Gordon revealed on Friday.
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The former Essendon player will return to Australia early from a holiday in the United States to face the music over a video which appears to show him snorting a line of white powder.
The footage, which Carlisle allegedly shared on phone application Snapchat, was aired by a tabloid news program just hours after he signed a new contract with St Kilda.
The Bulldogs had wanted to interview Carlisle, but he refused unless they provided an indication of the deal on offer, Gordon told the ABC.
"We had some intelligence around some issues, that I won't say go to character, but went to what sort of addition he would make to our football club," he said.
"We weren't the only club who had those concerns."
St Kilda had shown confidence in Carlisle, Gordon said.
"It's almost Shakespearean what happened since then," he said.
An AFL spokesman would not say whether the video would count as a strike against Carlisle under the league's illicit drugs policy.
He said the AFL would say more about the situation when Carlisle returned to Australia from the US.
