Your final warning, says AFL

Clubs, players who flout the rules will face deregistration

JON RALPH and JAY CLARK

THE AFL has warned clubs their players and officials face deregistration for blatant social-distancing breaches as Adelaide last night avoided draft penalties.

The league was still finalising a penalty for the Crows last night after a group of up to eight players took part in a team-based drill in a quarantine camp in the Barossa Valley. The league will issue a severe fine in a penalty that does not include taking Adelaide draft picks.

The league’s integrity team presented a report to the AFL at 1pm yesterday after three days of investigation.

The AFL Commission will today consider potential penalties for future social-distancing transgressions and would throw the book at any intentional breaches.

The league is determined to be a community leader in the fight to reduce COVID-19 numbers and is furious with Adelaide’s actions in the latest AFL breach.

Adelaide made clear to the league’s integrity team that the players took part in a teambased drill for only 5-10 minutes as players were wrapping up drills between pairs of players. As Adelaide chief executive Andrew Fagan comes under heat for another controversy on his watch, rival clubs believe even the club’s training camp was a breach of the spirit of fair play.

Despite the Crows having permission from South Australian police for players to quarantine in a Barossa Valley resort, the league had made it clear no club should use the stand-down period to gain a competitive advantage.

AFL football boss Steve

Hocking and his offsider Patrick Clifton had repeatedly warned clubs to err on the side of caution when it came to this unprecedented period.

Instead the Crows put their players in a resort where an incident like this was an accident waiting to happen — and sent along a senior assistant and dietitian.

In contrast some of Port Adelaide’s players have quarantined at home for four weeks since Round 1, having already done so once after returning from the Gold Coast.

Gold Coast chief executive Mark Evans said of those warnings yesterday: “It certainly came up in a CEOs’ conference last week. They are to be included in the AFL’s protocols as to how we play or train.

“They haven’t been signed off or distributed yet, but certainly we were told and not just players but it could be coaches or CEOs or any other officials, that if there was a blatant breach one of the penalties includes deregistration and that could be for the season.”

Ex-St Kilda star Leigh Montagna said on Saturday he believed Crows players were deliberately flouting the rules when a group of eight started a team drill.