AFL CEO Andrew Dillon won't confirm if, or any, punishments will come Geelong's way as the league investigates the nature of the Cats' secret concussion waiver with defender Jake Kolodjashnij.
Dillon did the media rounds on Saturday and spoke on SEN's Crunchtime about what process the league is taking with the Geelong-Kolodjashnij-contract fiasco which could warrant a hefty fine.
"Under the AFL rules and regulations, agreements are required, that affect contracts, are required to be lodged with the AFL, so for Geelong, (it is about) asking them why the document wasn't lodged with the AFL," Dillon said on SEN.
"Anything that looks to be inconsistent with the collective agreement would have to at least be lodged with the AFL and Geelong have acknowledged that by saying not lodging it with the AFL and ultimately the AFLPA not being across it has been a failure.
"We have heard from the current chairman of Geelong and also the CEO yesterday saying that was a fail or a misstep. A mistake in the process. We are waiting to hear back from Geelong (about the agreement and why it wasn't lodged) and we will hear from them early in the week.
"In terms of the lodgement, there are some (fines) that have a maximum of $20,000. But there are other provisions that have got a sanction at large. But I don't want to get into speculating about where that might go until we hear back from Geelong formally."
Dillon confirmed that former Geelong president and now current AFL Commission chairman Craig Drummond has not been involved in the deliberating process so far.
The AFL CEO didn't want to speculate on whether the deal made in secret was done with malice, or whether it was simply a mistake.
"I wish we weren't here," he said.
"I think Geelong, the ownership that Steve (Hocking) has taken and Craig's statement that he has put out earlier today, I think Geelong are owning it. Mistakes have been made but they have been owned and I think that is just as important."
When being reviewed by the independent concussion panel, Kolodjashnij had been given an amber light instead of the usual red or green. Adding to the motivation for Geelong to seek the waiver deal.
"It's not as binary as a traffic light and I'm not a doctor so I don't want to get into that (system and whether it has caused confusion), but what we do have is absolute experts on that concussion panel," Dillon said.
"One of the learnings from this will be even more of an increase in vigour in how we deal with players that go to that concussion panel.
"We are not talking big numbers of players that see that panel, but there are numbers of players."
Dillon confirmed Kolodjashnij can continue to play.
Kolodjashnij signed the two-year deal to waive his rights to take legal action against Geelong if he was to have cognitive issues in the future as a result of head knocks back in 2024.
The contract included a clause that if he was medically retired in 2025 then the 2026 component would cease immediately. Not an uncommon clause in football contracts, but it is the secret waiver freeing the club of litigation that has drawn scrutiny.
Kolodjashnij's manager was not involved in making the deal.
The story broke early in the week and has become the headline act of the league.
The league and the AFLPA released a joint statement on Thursday regarding the secret deal; disparaging the waiver but not stating any punishment for Geelong.
The AFL then issued the Cats with a please explain on Friday.
