Lachie Whitfield to cop six-month suspension, Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert agree to 12-month bans

UPDATE: GRAEME Allan has resigned as Collingwood football manager after accepting a 12-month ban for his role in a saga which resulted in Giant Lachie Whitfield being banned for six months.

Graeme Allan left GWS to become Collingwood football manager. Picture: Michael Klein

UPDATE: GRAEME Allan has resigned as Collingwood football manager after accepting a 12-month ban for his role in a saga which resulted in GWS midfielder Lachie Whitfield being banned for six months.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan confirmed today that Whitfield will serve a six-month ban and administrators Allan and Craig Lambert have accepted 12-month suspensions.

READ GRAEME ALLAN’S STATEMENT BELOW

But McLachlan said no decision had been made on penalties for the Giants, including the possible loss of picks at the draft on November 25.

Whitfield said he believed the six-month ban was “a fair resolution”.

“I was going through a difficult period in my life and was not thinking clearly at the time. I know I should have behaved differently,” he said in a statement.

“I sincerely apologise to my teammates, coaches and our supporters.”

McLachlan defended the lengthy investigation and said Whitfield had acted on bad advice when he spent several nights at the home of former GWS welfare manager Lambert out of fear of failing a drug test.

Lachie Whitfield has received a six-month ban from the AFL.

“I reckon the sanctions are appropriate,” McLachlan said.

“He’s a 19-year-old kid who took advice from his supervisors, or the people who were looking after him. There’s a different allocation of responsibility. There’s not one piece of evidence or any allegation of anything to do with performance-enhancing drugs.

“(It is) a poor reflection (on the professionals involved). It is a mistake that is hard to believe.”

Allan, who was GWS footy chief for five years before returning to Collingwood in May, issued a statement confirming his resignation just two-and-a-half months after he was appointed Magpies football manager.

“I accept that I made an error of judgment in the way I dealt with Lachie Whitfield’s personal

relationship issues and I have agreed to pay the price for it,” he said.

“There was no dark intent or other agenda behind what transpired in 2015. I reject any claim

or speculation to the contrary.”

Graeme Allan watches a Magpies game this year with Eddie McGuire and Gary Pert. Picture: Michael Klein

Allan said Whitfield had not failed a drug test or failed to submit a sample — “and neither have I.”

“But I do accept that regardless of my good intentions, I should have handled the issues

differently ... I also accept that the club I served then, and the club I serve now, are dealing with the consequences of this matter. For this, I am sorry.”

Allan said he would like to work in football again some time in the future but understands that “for now, this is not possible.”

“I want to also thank Eddie McGuire and Gary Pert for the opportunity to return to my football

‘home’, Collingwood. When I returned earlier this year, after almost 20 years away, I had no

sense of what was to unfold. I did not expect that matters would end this way.”

Collingwood accepted Allan’s resignation. The job of football manager will be filled on an interim basis by current football operations manager Marcus Wagner.

MARK ROBINSON: AFL ALWAYS GETS DEAL DONE

CRAIG LAMBERT: LIONS FACING PLAYER WELFARE CRISIS

YOUNG GUNS: GIANTS SCORE YET ANOTHER DRAFT WIN

VERDICT: AFL HANDS BROWNLOW TO COTCHIN, MITCHELL

The trio were banned under AFL rules although McLachlan said the issue could have been dealt with under the anti-doping code. He said ASADA was happy with the outcome.

He said AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon would make a decision on penalties for the Giants.

“There has been no decision made (regarding their draft picks),” he said.

“I don’t want to speculate on what could happen – it could be done before the draft, after the draft, it could be done at the appropriate time. He (Dillon) has to make the decision first.”

The 2012 No.1 draft pick will be free to play midway through next season.

Allan, 62, reluctantly agreed to a suspension late last week because of fears the World Anti-Doping Agency would intervene, as it did in the case against the Essendon 34.

Figures close to Allan are adamant he could have beaten the allegations in Australia, but not at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

If Whitfield only gets 8 weeks of the season as a ban surely GWS will lose early picks. Strong suggestion is they lose 1st & 2nd round picks

— Jon Ralph (@RalphyHeraldSun) November 14, 2016

CAS overturned a not guilty verdict delivered by the AFL anti-doping tribunal on the Bombers.

Any agreement between the AFL and Whitfield, Lambert and Allan would be ticked off by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

The negotiated resolution was dependent on all three agreeing to the terms of the suspensions.

A sticking point to the deal is concern over the possibility of ASADA or WADA coming over the top of the AFL deal.

The deal allows the three bans to fall under the AFL’s disrepute rules and not the anti-doping code, avoiding potential four-year penalties.

Allan and Lambert were accused of hiding Whitfield at Lambert’s home in May last year over fears he would fail a drugs test.

Their conduct was leaked within hours of Allan’s appointment at Collingwood over football boss Neil Balme in August.

Originally published as Lachie Whitfield to cop six-month suspension, Graeme Allan and Craig Lambert agree to 12-month bans