Ovens and Murray: Precedent set for future salary cap busts
Why Wangaratta lost its appeal to being stripped of the 2022 premiership, and what the decision means for clubs across the state.
Victoria
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Wangaratta’s three avenues of attack have all been rejected in the club’s bid to reclaim the 2022 Ovens and Murray league premiership it lost for busting the salary cap.
The AFL Victoria-appointed regional appeal committee last week finally handed down the outcome of the Magpies’ appeal against the O&M league’s unprecedented call to strip them of the flag.
Falling victim to double jeopardy was the central argument of Wangaratta’s ultimately unsuccessful bid to have the premiership recognised.
The Magpies believed the original penalties for the cap breach determined by AFL Northeast Border, including a $28,000 fine and loss of player points, should have been the end of the matter.
But the appeal committee ruled double jeopardy doesn’t exist in a football setting and found in favour of the O&M, whose by-laws state it had “absolute discretion” in dealing with any breach of its rules.
The O&M then felt duty bound to act when Wangaratta accepted the initial penalties and didn’t appeal them.
“There is no inconsistency in one body determining a sanction for breaches of rules and then a separate body determining what flows as a consequence of those findings,” a copy of the appeal outcome obtained by The Weekly Times said.
“This is not dissimilar to a situation where a person who is a member of a profession regulated by legislation is found to have breached various sections of that legislation and receives a fine for those breaches.
“As a result the relevant governing body further sanctions the practitioner by suspending or cancelling his or her registration.”
The appeal committee also ruled Wangaratta was not denied any procedural fairness.
It took up the chance to provide further clarification of the cap breach before the league board met, and taking the flag was considered “reasonable in all the circumstances” given the nature of the charges.
Wangaratta’s player payments were audited after its three-point win in last year’s grand final and found to be $28,043 over the salary cap.
The club was also reprimanded for not submitting player payment statements correctly and within prescribed time frames and not naming all players who received payment and including all payments paid or owed to its senior coach, Ben Reid.
Wangaratta vice-president Jon Henry said losing the flag was “manifestly excessive when compared to other clubs’ experiences under similar circumstances”.
WHAT THE APPEAL DECISION MEANS FOR OTHER CLUBS
Victoria’s 400-plus country football clubs are firmly on notice about the risks attached to paying players over the salary cap in pursuit of a premiership.
Wangaratta’s failed appeal bid to reinstate the flag it won last year in the Ovens and Murray league has created a major shift on the severity of penalties for future cap breaches, irrespective of the circumstances involved.
Wangaratta dodged losing the premiership when initial penalties were handed down for being over the salary cap last year.
But in a landmark call soon after, the O&M board voted to strip Wangaratta of the flag.
The appeal committee’s determination last week that the league’s penalty was “reasonable in the circumstances” has suddenly ratcheted up pressure on those prepared to run the gauntlet and pay players more than the salary cap permits.
“The O&M sanction has now set a precedent for AFL Victoria to follow,” Murray league general manager Dale Norman said.
“Clubs need to be aware that noncompliance, no matter whether it was an innocent mistake or not, will incur harsh penalties.
“The events that have transpired will certainly have an impact on club administrators and volunteers.
“No one wants to be put in a position whereby an error could have such massive ramifications.”
In hindsight, Mr Norman said the initial AFL sanction should have been done in conjunction with the O&M to “take away the grey area” and added that training for clubs on how to administer the salary cap had to be beefed up.
“All leagues support the policy, but AFL Victoria needs to provide better education and training on the salary cap,” he said.
Wangaratta must pay $28,000 by September for its breach, and the fine will be put towards “initiatives to support clubs” on the salary cap and points system.
In its appeal submission, Wangaratta unsuccessfully argued the O&M’s penalty was unwarranted and “manifestly excessive” given it self-reported the administrative error that led to the breach.
“We are deeply dissatisfied with the fact that two different governing bodies have issued rulings on the same offence,” Wangaratta vice-president Jon Henry said.
But, the O&M is not beating its chest from its unprecedented intervention that has now been backed by the sport’s governing body.
“This decision is in no way being considered as a win,” O&M chairman David Sinclair said.
“In time, it will hopefully be acknowledged that the integrity of the competition was the league’s primary focus at all stages.
“With all the relevant information received, it had no alternative but to act in support of its own rules, the AFL Victoria (salary cap) rules, and all O&M member clubs.”
Since the introduction of the salary cap and player points system in 2016, salary cap checks have been randomly conducted.
Bendigo league chairwoman Carol McKinstry confirmed it had already contacted the Central Victoria AFL Commission about the need for the toughest penalties possible for a proven salary cap bust.
She said the O&M stance had been a game-changer for clubs in the state’s 50-plus leagues that all have a salary cap.
“There needs to be significant penalties for clubs breaching the salary cap otherwise the integrity of the program is significantly compromised,” she said.
“If you go on a board you have to be prepared to make hard decisions.
“That is why the old model of having delegate boards is not fit for purpose now.
“I imagine the other clubs in the league would not have been impressed that they had done the right thing and the club that didn’t still got to benefit.”
Morwell Tigers official Michael Henderson said he also admired the O&M for making a “very tough decision” to remove a premiership from one of its clubs.
“They could have easily hid behind the AFL Victoria ruling and passed the buck,” he said.
“Instead they stood up to make the right call.”
But he said the saga had exposed some glaring shortcomings.
“The lack of information and detail that has been forthcoming from the get-go has been very disappointing,” he said.
“No one really knows the specifics of the wrongdoing and therefore the basis of the penalties that have been handed down.
“A lot is being left up to the imagination.
“But we all know what the rules are, and if you’re $28,000 over the salary cap, you simply can’t keep the premiership and have a salary cap framework with any integrity.”
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