Richmond concedes it cannot stop Jake King associating with Bandidos figure Toby Mitchell

RICHMOND has conceded it cannot stop Jake King associating with bikies despite angst over links with Bandidos figure Toby Mitchell.

AFL Footballer Jake King looks on in the men's final match between Rafael Nadal of Spain and Stanislas Wawrinka.

RICHMOND has conceded it cannot stop Jake King associating with bikies despite continuing angst over the forward's links with Bandidos figure Toby Mitchell.

King has been seen in public with Mitchell twice since the Herald Sun revealed last year he had been counselled against bringing the former bikie enforcer into Richmond's change rooms.

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But Tigers chief executive Brendon Gale said last night the club would not ban him from continued meetings with former Bandidos sergeant-at-arms Mitchell.

And the AFL has no plans to step in, saying yesterday the Mitchell-King friendship was a matter for Richmond.

The notorious Mitchell has twice survived attempts on his life. He was shot in March last year and also five times outside a Brunswick gym in 2011.

Gale said yesterday he would prefer King did not meet with Mitchell.

"I have been open with Jake," Gale said.

"I would prefer he wouldn't meet with these people in light of the (Australian Crime Commission) report and Essendon last year, but they are Jake's choices, and he has got to own them.

News_Image_File: Jake King pictured last week.

"There is a real community concern about organised crime and the involvement of bikie gangs and I can understand that, but we have never issued a warning to Jake about who he can mix with and who he can't mix with.

"We haven't issued any bans. Jake brought Toby Mitchell into the rooms and it was made clear to him it will never happen again. We have a duty to provide a safe workplace but in terms of who he mixes with in his own capacity, that's up to him."

King and Mitchell have been long-term friends, with the bikie encouraging the Richmond forward to follow his dream to play AFL.

But the Tigers cannot warn Mitchell off, and are aware of King's rights as a player.

"We have legal duties as an employer and we can have whatever rules we think are reasonable (within the club). (But) it is a clear distinction (outside the club),'' Gale told 3AW.

An AFL spokesman told the Herald Sun the league supported Richmond's position.

"As Richmond has said, (Mitchell) can't have any role around the club and cannot be on club premises, and they can give (King) advice on what he does, but ultimately what he does (in this situation) is up to him."

The ACC's report into Australian sport in February last year specifically warned about links between organised crime and sport.

"Overseas experience has demonstrated that criminal identities and groups will invest years developing such relationships, with the ultimate aim of having the athlete participate in activities such as match-fixing,'' it stated.

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