GEELONG has been fined $77,500 and faces two years of extra AFL scrutiny of its salary cap and third-party payments after the League concluded its long-running audit of the club’s finances.
$40,000 of the fine has been suspended for two years, pending no further salary cap or soft cap breaches.
The AFL conducted an ‘extended audit’ covering the 2019-2024 seasons, which found that the Cats did not breach the AFL’s total player payments limit, or the AFL player movement rules, at any time in that period.
However, the League found that there were a series of “non-disclosures or late disclosures” of arrangements with club associates and third parties.
Non-disclosures found in Geelong’s AFLW program were found to be administrative errors, rather than “material breaches”.
Geelong CEO Steve Hocking said the club had “fully co-operated” throughout the League’s audit, which was conducted by the League in conjunction with consulting firm EY Australia.
“We acknowledge the outcome of the audit has confirmed the Club has not breached AFL TPP limits nor the AFL player movement rules,” he 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.”
More to come
