Arrest warrant issued for umpire Troy Pannell as Ex-Crows star Mark Ricciuto calls on AFL to investigate accusations of bias

A formal arrest warrant has been issued for runaway umpire Troy Pannell, after he was accused of an $8.7m fraud in Victoria. It comes as Crows legend Mark Ricciuto called on the AFL to investigate accusations of bias.

Mark Ricciuto celebrates a goal for the Adelaide Crows in 2005. He has called on the AFL to investigate umpire Troy Pannell who was accused of bias against the Crows in 2016. Picture: Mark Dadswell/Getty Images

A formal arrest warrant has been issued for runaway umpire Troy Pannell, with a court saying he had fled Victoria after he was accused of an $8.7 million fraud.

Justice Andrew Watson released stamped documents from the Victorian Supreme Court on Thursday.

The arrest warrant was addressed to the Sheriff, Victoria Police and the Australian Federal Police.

“Troy Cameron Pannell has failed to attend before the Supreme Court of Victoria .. as required by the order of Honourable Justice Watson made on May 9 2025 to answer charges of contempt of court,” the arrest warrant states.

“It appears to the Court that Troy Cameron Pannell has left Victoria.

“Arrest Troy Cameron Pannell and bring him before the Court at 9.30am on 6 June 2025 to answer a charge of contempt, detaining him in the meantime.”

The order was signed by Justice Watson on May 20, but released on Thursday morning.

Mr Pannell was also ordered to file a defence to the case brought by his former employer SeaRoad Shipping, which accused him of defrauding the company.

The major development comes after Adelaide premiership star Mark Ricciuto has called on the AFL to investigate Mr Pannell who was accused of bias against the Crows in 2016.

Mr Pannell is now believed to be on the run in South Australia after he failed to show up for court over allegations he defrauded his former employer SeaRoad Shipping of $8.7 million.

It is alleged the fraud was happening when Mr Pannell gave 17 free kicks to the Bulldogs and only one to Adelaide in a 2016 game at Docklands Stadium.

The AFL did not respond to questions on Wednesday about whether it investigated that game, Mr Pannell’s career or had checked into his betting account history.

Troy Pannell. Picture: Glenn Ferguson

Ricciuto said that Bulldogs and Crows game, and Mr Pannell’s career, needed to be reviewed after the allegations in court came to light.

“Adelaide ended up losing the game by 15 points, if you can believe it,” he said.

“The Bulldogs won the flag that year. If the Bulldogs had not have won that game, they probably would have finished eighth, probably wouldn’t have even advanced.

“Adelaide would have finished third on the ladder instead of fifth. We would have a double chance.”

He later added: “It might have cost us a flag.”

Mr Pannell, who has now disconnected his mobile phone, did not show up to Victoria’s Supreme Court on Tuesday.

SeaRoad Shipping is demanding Mr Pannell pay back the $8.7 million and wanted his passport flagged with the AFP to stop him leaving the country.

An arrest warrant for contempt of court was also set to be issued.

Adelaide’s Taylor Walker talks to the umpire at three quarter time in the game against the Bulldogs in 2016. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

The Adelaide Football Club was due to hold a board meeting on Wednesday night.

Ricciuto made the comments on his breakfast radio program on Triple M in Adelaide, where he was asked by his co-host if the AFL should investigate.

“I would think now that maybe it might be worthy of it, not for that game but just in general because he was involved in some horse racing,” Ricciuto said.

Ricciuto declined to comment when contacted to ask to clarify his comments.

The AFL’s general manager of football Mark Evans defended Mr Pannell after the extraordinary umpiring in 2016.

“The free kick count was a heavily skewed count, not that it has to be equal. But certainly every time you see something like that you look for what are the errors,” Mr Evans said at the time.

“You look at missed free kicks and you look at the incorrect free kicks that were paid.

“Some of those certainly favoured the Bulldogs.”

But Mr Evans added at the time that he backed Mr Pannell to umpire the following week.

“He’s had a very, very good year. It would be akin to having a good player who’s had a good year and even if they had a bad performance do you drop them?” he said.

“What do you actually gain out of that? He will absolutely umpire this week.”

Mr Pannell umpired more than 200 AFL games in his 13-year career.

He was not contactable on Wednesday.

Originally published as Arrest warrant issued for umpire Troy Pannell as Ex-Crows star Mark Ricciuto calls on AFL to investigate accusations of bias