- AFL grand finalists Geelong fined $77,500
Geelong have been hit with a $77,500 fine and face more stringent AFL scrutiny after an investigation into their controversial third-party deals.
The Cats have accepted the penalty, with $40,000 of the fine suspended for two years.
The AFL did an extended audit of the club, from 2019-24, after an initial audit last year. The extended audit covered total player payments and the football department soft cap.
Geelong’s third-party deals have been a persistent topic in the media over the last few months, particularly after coach Chris Scott’s arrangement with a club sponsor.
Star recruit Bailey Smith also has a third-party deal with a major club backer. But it is unclear whether this was included in the extended audit, given he started playing for Geelong this season.
The AFL gave no details of which deals led to the fine.
The Cats have been fined over failures to correctly report third-party deals for players
The club have accepted the penalty, with $40,000 of the fine suspended for two years.
Superstar Bailey Smith has a third-party deal with a major club backer, but it is unclear whether this was included in the extended audit
While the extended audit found no breaches of the total player payment limit or player movement rules, the league said it uncovered ‘a series of non-disclosures and/or late disclosures of arrangements with club associates and third parties, that were required to be reported to the AFL.’
The AFL added that as a result of the Geelong extended audit, it would introduce ‘improvements’ for all clubs around education on player payment and football department soft cap rules.
Along with the fine, Geelong must meet additional compliance rules, to be monitored by the AFL over the next two years.
They are ‘enhanced’ protocols between the club and third parties; keeping registers of deals between the club and third parties; ‘expanded AFL assurance procedures’ for player contracts; and club associates complying with ‘expanded disclosure and confirmation procedures’.
There were also non-disclosures relating to Geelong’s AFLW program, but the league said these were administration errors.
Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking said the club had ‘fully cooperated’ with the extended audit, which brought in EY Australia to help the AFL investigators.
‘We acknowledge the outcome of the audit has confirmed the club has not breached AFL TPP limits nor the AFL player movement rules,’ Hocking said.
‘We also acknowledge the audit identified a number of non-disclosure items over the six-year period.
‘We accept the AFL’s sanctions for these errors and will strengthen our education and governance processes moving forward.’
