The AFL and its players’ association are at odds over whether the coming anti-doping tribunal concerning 34 past and present Essendon players should be open.

The AFL will make a submission to a directions hearing in Melbourne on Tuesday night that the full hearing should be made public for the sake of transparency.

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But the AFLPA will argue that the hearing – set to take place within a month – needs to be held behind closed doors in the interests of the confidentiality of the players.

Former County Court judge David Jones will chair the directions hearing, beginning at 1700 (AEDT).

If the 34 players are found guilty of doping in 2012, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) will push for suspensions, although any bans could be backdated to November 14 when the AFL issued the infraction notices.

The players were also issued with provisional suspensions on November 14, but AFL football operations manager Mark Evans confirmed on Monday that Bombers duo Jobe Watson and Dustin Fletcher had been granted an exemption to play in Saturday’s International Rules Test against Ireland.

An AFL spokesman said it was unknown when Judge Jones would rule on whether the full anti-doping tribunal would be open to media and the public, although it was likely to be announced by the end of the week.