Leagues plan to block player clearances until permit plan in place
Clearance requests from the Eastern and Northern football leagues are set to explode if rival competitions play on this year. But, as leagues scramble to control player movement, a solution has been placed on the table.
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A temporary permit system is on the table as leagues scramble to control player movement following the decision by the Eastern and Northern football leagues to cancel their seasons.
Clearances could explode with some metropolitan and country leagues still to decide if they play on in 2020 or reset for 2021.
A host of players have already flagged interest in switching leagues in the days since the NFL and EFL’s announcement but it will not be that simple.
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Clearances must remain open nationally as interstate leagues confirm return-to-play dates but the NFL and EFL – with agreement from fellow metropolitan leagues – will block clearances until all competitions declare their intentions.
AFL Victoria is expected to announce the permit system in the coming days.
NFL boss Peter McDougall said he would prefer to see transfers closed completely.
“I don’t think (transfers) should stay open and the metro leagues have made that clear to AFL Vic, we would like them closed yesterday,” McDougall said.
“At the moment we’d put a hold on any transfers until AFL Vic puts in place a temporary permit facility that may allow a player to go and play but only for a limited time and they would revert back to their original club.
“Once the other leagues have made a decision players may not be able to go anywhere anyway, if I was a player I’d be waiting to find out who is playing before I made any decision.”
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Southern league CEO Lee Hartman said the league had wanted transfers closed because it was aware some leagues could pull out.
“Unfortunately, because it’s a national system and interstate will be playing in July and even the back end of June, it has to be kept open,” Hartman said.
“We are collectively looking at a potential permit system, rather than a transfer, so a player may stay on his original club’s list.”
Hartman said a restriction on the numbers of players joining clubs would be part of the discussion and believed most clubs were already at maximum points and could struggle to recruit anyway.
VAFA CEO Brett Connell was adamant an huge influx of transfers would not be allowed to ensure a league’s season remained fair.
“The biggest threat to any of our competitions is a compromised season with a rush of players coming in on permits who then leave,” he said.
“It compromises clubs too, if senior guys miss and go down to reserves footy, all of a sudden you’ve got blokes not coming back because they weren’t supported.
“By coming into the ammos, players who’ve come from paid leagues have to go through an integrity panel anyway, they’re not just going to get a tick and walk in.”
EFL CEO Troy Swainston sent a memo to club presidents this week confirming how the permit system is expected to work.
“In the very unlikely event that a league was to get a Victorian State Government approved start date, the league could issue a Type 2 permit,” the memo said.
“The league will only issue a permit if a confirmed and approved start date was provided by the other league and the (EFL) has also removed the automation on transfers and will only approve them if clubs agree to a transfer.
“There are other mechanisms in play that restrict movements which include salary caps, player points and those related to club culture. We will follow up with more details over the coming weeks.”