Clubs welcome soft cap reprieve for select staff

CLUBS have been told they can pay female and indigenous staff outside their soft caps next year as the AFL prepares to swing a $3.5 million wrecking ball through football departments.

The league told club presidents and chief executives in a Thursday morning phone hook-up it would be slashing their soft caps next year from $9.7 million to $6.2 million.

The news is a further blow for the assistant coaches and football department staff who had been stood down for the remainder of the season, many of whom had been hoping to return to next season.

The cut is about $500,000 deeper than the mooted figure of $6.7 million, which had formed part of the discussions in recent months.

But it was the exemptions that will be allowed that were welcomed by clubs wanting clarity over the cap.

Clubs were told that for indigenous and female staff in their football department, a significant portion of their salary could be cap exempt.

Clubs will be able to use that exemption for four staffers in their AFL programs and two in their AFLW programs.

It will mean clubs who might have had to sack indigenous welfare or coaching staff as part of their determination to reduce costs will be able to keep them on.

The decision to incentivise the hiring of female and indigenous staff comes after indigenous figures such as triple premiership player Chris Johnson said last month there needed to be more indigenous figures across all levels of football departments.

The AFL is of the view it not only needs to retain its indigenous and female staff, but must expand on those roles to increase diversity across the competition.

Clubs will also have a $200,000 “apportionment” allocation above the $6.2 million soft cap that will allow them to spread out some salaries across the football department and other areas of their clubs.

The 2020 soft cap — which incorporates spending in club football departments — had originally been set at $9.7 million per club leading into this season.

But the coronavirus pandemic changed everything, with the competition shutting down from late March to June 11, amid the biggest financial crisis to hit the game.

Clubs had been pushing for greater clarity about their 2021 footy spend, in order to help with their planning and to provide more information to those football department staff who have been stood down.