Melbourne FC found not guilty of tanking, but Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly cop suspensions
UPDATE: MELBOURNE has been found not guilty of tanking by the AFL, but its former coach and footy manager have copped suspensions.
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MELBOURNE has been found not guilty of tanking after a forensic seven-month investigation by the AFL.
But key individuals - then-coach Dean Bailey and then-football manager Chris Connolly - have been found guilty of conduct which was prejudicial to the interests of the AFL, stemming from comments made by Connolly.
The Demons will be fined $500,000 - the third-largest fine in the game's history - for being the employers of Connolly and Bailey, which will be paid by the club in instalments.
"The Melbourne FC, its coach and team did not set out to deliberately lose in any matches during the 2009 premiership season," the AFL says.
However, despite this finding, Bailey has been suspended for the first 16 rounds of the coming season, and Connolly until February 1, 2014.
Bailey can remain employed by Adelaide - where he is an assistant coach - during his suspension, but cannot deal with players in any capacity. Crows chairman Rob Chapman later confirmed the club will stand by Bailey.
Connolly, who still works for Melbourne in a marketing role, is not allowed to perform any function for or on behalf of the club until his suspension is lifted.
The AFL's deputy CEO Gillon McLachlan announced the results of the investigation in a press conference this afternoon.
McLachlan said Connolly was banned because of comments he made in a football department meeting during the 2009 season.
He said Bailey had admitted to bowing to pressure and making decisions in regards to selection and player management with regard to those comments.
"There is no allegation that is able to be sustained that Dean Bailey didn't coach on his merits or any players didn't play to their utmost abilities,'' McLachlan said.
AFL deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan addresses the media. Picture: Jay Town
"Connolly has accepted he went into a football department meeting and he made a terrible and stupid decision in the context of an AFL rule that has now changed (priority draft picks) and in the context of a pressure and expectation of success.
"He made a comment regarding the performance of the team, a desire to secure a priority pick, and I know he now regrets that comment.''
McLachlan said Melbourne, Connolly and Bailey had accepted their penalties.
He also confirmed Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab, who also had that role in 2009, had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
Melbourne FC president Don McLardy speaks to the media after the AFL reported the findings of its tanking investigation. Picture: Rob Leeson
McLardy accepts sanction
Later, Melbourne FC president Don McLardy said the investigation had "a major impact on our club", but that the team could now run out on Friday night in the NAB Cup "clear of any distractions".
"From the moment the investigation commenced, we were determined to defend our club against the allegation that we deliberately lost games. This has been achieved," McLardy said in a statement.
"The findings ... state clearly there was no directive from the club board or executive management to deliberately lose matches, and the Melbourne Football Club never set out to deliberately lose matches in any game during the 2009 season."
He described the $500,000 fine as "significant", but said the club considered it was in its own best interests to accept the sanctions and avoid a potentially lengthy and costly legal battle.
He added that Connolly - "an outstanding football person" - would continue as a Melbourne FC employee after his suspension is lifted, and thanked the club's members and fans for their support.
Melbourne FC president Don McLardy speaks to the media after the AFL reported the findings of its tanking investigation. Picture: Getty
Dees keep draft picks
The Demons will not lose any draft picks because the club was found not guilty of the serious charge of conduct prejudical to the draft. In other words, not guilty of deliberately losing matches at the end of the 2009 season.
Rule 17.1 states in part that “conduct prejudicial to the draft means conduct which has the purpose or has or is likely to have the effect of hindering, prejudicing, interfering with or preventing the natural operation of the draft.
AFL Regulations 19 (A5) says: “A person, being a player, a coach or an assistant coach, must at all times perform on their merits and must not induce, or encourage, any player, coach or assistant coach not to perform on their merits in any match – or in relation to any aspect of the match, for any reason whatsoever”.
More than 50 past and present club staff were interviewed by the AFL and club documents and computers were examined before the league's integrity unit submitted an 800-page report.
In the end, AFL investigators found no evidence to that the club tanked.
It's accepted that clubs can experiment with player positioning on the field.
It's understood a contentious move in the Melbourne-Richmond game in Round 18 of 2009, where Melbourne ruckman Paul Johnson found himself on Richmond's small forward Nathan Brown, has been determined as a brief match-up and not, as has been suggested, a deliberate coaching move.
It is the first time the AFL has penalised a club or officials over this sort of scenario.
Full text of the AFL's statement
The AFL summarised its findings as follows:
- There had not been a directive from the Melbourne FC board or executive management that the team should deliberately lose matches in any game during the 2009 premiership season.
- The Melbourne FC, its coach and team did not set out to deliberately lose in any matches during the 2009 premiership season.
- Melbourne FC then-general manager of football operations Chris Connolly during the 2009 premiership season had acted in a manner concerning pre-game planning, comprising comments to a football department meeting, which was prejudicial to the interests of the AFL.
- Melbourne FC then-senior coach Dean Bailey, having regard to Mr Connolly's comments, during the 2009 premiership season had acted in a manner which was prejudicial to the interests of the AFL.
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