Four top Australian Football League (AFL) players who were investigated in relation to an alleged sexual assault at a hotel in Melbourne earlier this year will not be charged, police have said.

After a “thorough investigation and based on legal advice” police would not proceed with criminal charges due to “insufficient evidence”, police said in a statement.

Four Sydney Swans players – Isaac Heeney, James Jordon, Chad Warner and Nick Blakey, who now plays for North Melbourne – had been suspended for the rest of the season over the incident in August.

The men previously denied wrongdoing but apologised for breaching club standards by inviting women back to the hotel after a game and drinking.

Australian media reported that three women, understood to be adult entertainers, had alleged inappropriate touching during the incident at the Pullman Hotel and are looking into civil action.

“Due to the ongoing civil matter, Victoria Police is unable to make further comment,” police said in a statement on Friday.

A fifth player, Riley Bice, who was also suspended by the club, had already been cleared by police.

A lawyer for one of the women said she was “devastated” by the police decision.

Jackson Pannam, of Slater and Gordon law firm, added that the move “does not amount to a finding that the incident our client reported did not occur, nor does it diminish the seriousness of what she says happened or its profound impact on her”.

John Karantzis from Carbone Lawyers, acting for the other two women, told the ABC his clients were “very disappointed and distressed”.

They would “vigorously pursue” a civil action, he said.

“My clients’ civil claim is based on a different burden of proof, it is based on the balance of probabilities,” he said.

Heeney welcomed the police announcement, saying the past three months had been “incredibly difficult for my family, [my fiancee] Steffie and those close to me”.

“To my family and friends, your love and loyalty has meant more than words can do justice,” he continued.