Geelong have been fined $77,500 for administrative breaches surrounding third-party payments between 2019-24 - however a large portion of the fine has been suspended.
The Cats have had $40,000 of the fine suspended over the next two years, pending any further breaches.
A general AFL audit uncovered potential compliance issues with Geelong's third-party payments, which included a failure to report some deals with personal sponsors for players that are outside the salary cap and soft.
However, the AFL revealed there was no evidence Geelong had breached their salary cap or player movement rules and that the indiscretions were around disclosure of some third-party payments.
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AFL statement on Geelong TTP and soft cap audit
The AFL has completed the Extended Audit into the compliance of the Geelong Football Club (the Club) with AFL Rules relating to the Total Player Payment Limit (TPP Limit) and Football Department Expenditure Limit (Soft Cap Limit).
The AFL and the Club agreed to undertake the Extended Audit following the identification of potential compliance issues related to the disclosure and reporting of third-party arrangements, during the conduct of a General Audit in 2024.
The Extended Audit included a wider timeframe (2019-2024) and involved the review of extensive documentation as well as interviews with various personnel from the Club, Club associates and third parties.
This process was supported by EY Australia who provided external forensic expertise and was led at the AFL by the General Counsel, General Manager of Clubs & Scheduling and Head of Salary Cap & Soft Cap Compliance.
The Extended Audit found, on the basis of the information obtained and reviewed by the AFL, that the Club did not breach the AFL TPP Limit nor the AFL player movement rules in any season within the timeframe assessed.
The Extended Audit discovered 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.
In respect of the AFLW program, the non-disclosures identified were found to be administrative errors and do not amount to material breaches of the TPP Rules or player movement rules.
In connection with the findings of the Extended Audit, the AFL has imposed the following sanctions on the Club, which have been accepted:
1. A $77,500 fine of which $40,000 is suspended for two (2) years pending that no future TPP Limit or Soft Cap disclosure breaches are identified, and that the Club meets a set of Additional Compliance Requirements (outlined below) over that period of time;
2. The Club will implement Additional Compliance Requirements which will be actively monitored by the AFL over the next two (2) years, including:
- Implementation of enhanced internal governance protocols between club employees and third-parties;
- Club to maintain active registers of arrangements with Club associates and third-parties, which may be inspected by the AFL upon request at any time during the period;
- Expanded AFL assurance procedures to be applied to players contracting or re-contracting with the Club; and
- Expanded disclosure and confirmation procedures that associates of the Club must comply with,
The AFL acknowledges the Club’s cooperation in voluntarily agreeing to the conduct of the Extended Audit process and the manner of its participation in that process.
The AFL also foreshadows that, on account of learnings arising from the conduct of the Extended Audit, improvements will be introduced, across all Clubs, in due course to education with respect to both AFL and AFLW TPP Limit and Soft Cap Limit rules, the application of those rules to Club associates and third-parties and with respect to the AFL’s compliance and audit activities on those rules.