Richmond football boss Neil Balme has publicly expressed his frustrations with ASADA and the AFL after the Tigers were one of four clubs to receive sanctions for not updating the league on the whereabouts of their players during the post-season.
The Blues ($10,000), Demons ($5,000) and Bulldogs ($2,500) join the Tigers ($2,500) in receiving fines by the league on Thursday.
Balme believes clubs should not be responsible for knowing the location of their players during their time off.
โThereโs a setup for the drug stuff where ASADA says we need to know where everyone is in the off-season just in case theyโre doing something wrong, which I kind of understand,โ Balme told SEN Breakfast late last week.
โI donโt think thereโs any suggestion that any of these players who werenโt where they thought they were going to be were actually taking drugs.
โIf they fine them for not being somewhere, I think they need to go through the process of actually testing them for drugs because I think itโs a bit disingenuous I reckon.
โThe fact that it is the clubโs responsibility is a pretty cheap way out as well.
โThe Players Association and the AFL negotiate time off for the players, which they get and itโs significant and they need it, but then they say it is our responsibility for the player to tell someone where they are during that time and if a player doesnโt tell someone where they are, then itโs our problem.
โIโm not quite sure how weโre supposed to fix that.โ
The penalty isn't the Tigers' first offence, with the club also being on the end of a hefty fine in 2017 for a similar breach.
Players are able to download an app to their phones to assist club officials in being able to track their location.
