“Tell us”: Calls for transparency on Geelong sanctions

The AFL is set to fine the Geelong Football Club for “discrepancies” and “third-party payments”, according to Caroline Wilson.

An audit of the Cats has taken place and there have been some “lodgement issues” found.

Reporting on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters, Wilson says the Cats insist there is “nothing untoward” but the league is still set to hit them with financial sanctions.

“The audit is virtually finished. Results have been slowed down by the fact Geelong’s COO Marcus King has been away studying at Harvard,” she said.

“He’s back and my belief is that Geelong are expecting a fine, or there will be a fine from the AFL over the coming weeks.

“Geelong have been adamant from the word go that there is no smoking gun here, that nothing untoward was going on at the Geelong Football Club in terms of any attempt to hide third-party payments.

“The AFL accepts this. But there have been discrepancies. There have been lodgements that should have been noted that weren’t and they will lead to several five-figure fines. Whether they go beyond five figures I can’t tell you.

“I do know that one major lodgement issue was a car to a senior AFLW player and I think there might be a couple of other things as well.

“Geelong are expecting a fine and the AFL is expecting that to happen.”

Wilson says the AFL will make contact with all 18 clubs to ensure everything remains tight financially from a management viewpoint.

“I think that’s happened before. I remember the Brisbane Lions a few years ago were fined for failing to lodge,” Wilson added.

“It’s happened across the board, the Western Bulldogs many years ago.

“But we’re not saying there was any cheating or any attempt to cheat the salary cap.

“What it will lead to, and the AFL have told Geelong and other clubs, is that there’s been a loosening of management issues at many clubs. A warning will be given to all clubs.

“There’s going to be a crackdown on third-party payments and this has been led by what’s happened at Geelong.”

Earlier this year, Cats coach Chris Scott took on a role with a key club sponsor, Morris Finance, and more recently has taken up a director role at 5G Networks.

But Scott’s secondary employment will not be sanctioned, says Wilson.

“I believe what Chris Scott has said in the past that there was an issue because he wore Geelong gear at one of his second employees,” she added.

“I don’t think Chris Scott is part of those fines.”

CALLS FOR TRANSPARENCY

SEN Breakfast pair Tim Watson and Garry Lyon have both called for transparency on the situation.

Both want to understand what the fines are for exactly, urging the AFL to let the wider footy public know so the conspiracy theories can be debunked.

“If that is the case that there’s nothing serious here that has taken place and it’s just somebody overlooking something or misplacing something or being tardy with paperwork, I think it’s incumbent upon the AFL to be as transparent as they possibly can,” Watson said.

“You need to head the conspiracy theorists off at the pass. They’ve got nothing to hide, as Caro said there, and there’s no reason to disbelieve that.

“If there’s nothing to hide let everybody know exactly what it was, how it was calculated or detailed, how they found this information, so everybody can look at it as a footy fan and understand that nothing untoward happened.”

Lyon agrees, calling on the league not to hide any details.

He has faith that the Cats would act above board, but wants to know exactly why they are being fined.

“Over to you AFL and tell us exactly what’s going on here,” Lyon said.

“Conspiracy theorists or not - ‘How do they get these players? How do they do this? Ohhh, Cotton On, nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Oh, Frankie (Costa), oh, Morris Finance with the coach…’

“‘No, no, no, we’ve looked into all that, that’s good’.

“I’m trusting, maybe I’m too trusting, but now tell me - there’s nothing to see here but there’s going to be several five-figure fines?

“What for? What is it? Is this paperwork that’s been lodged late? Is this a payment to someone? I want to know exactly what it is.

“I trust. I think Steve Hocking would run a great ship down there, but tell the rest of the footy world what it is - that there’s nothing to see here but you’re getting five-figure fines for.”