Sydney coach Dean Cox is unsure of the path back for banned Swans as he maintains finals belief

Sydney coach Dean Cox has reaffirmed the club’s stance that all five players will remain stood down despite reports police have cleared one Swan.

As police continue their investigation into an alleged sexual assault at a Melbourne Hotel, it has emerged Riley Bice is now being treated as a witness to the incident after formal interviews were conducted.

The players have denied criminal wrongdoing, and no charges have been laid in relation to the police investigation, and The West Australian is not suggesting any criminal wrongdoing by any of the players interviewed.

However, Cox said Bice, along with Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Nick Blakey, will remain suspended regardless and is unsure if or when any of the players will be brought back into the football club.

“Vic Police and the football club came out with a statement, and I won’t comment too much further on those statements,” he told reporters on Thursday.

“All five will remain stood down from the football club, the police investigation and the behavioural nature will be separated, and that will remain.

“[Reintegration] talks change daily. I think one thing that we’re unsure about is the nature of what reintegration looks like and getting the best balance between what the players and footy clubs need.”

He also did not reveal if the club had conducted its own drug testing amid claims illicit drugs were present in the hotel.