An AFL audit has led to Geelong being handed a $77,500 fine for breaches relating to third-party payments.

The league's inquiry into the Cats' financial dealings commenced in 2024, with the audit finding the club had multiple issues relating to non-disclosures and late disclosures of agreements with third parties across their programs.

According to the report, $40,000 of the fine is suspended pending further breaches for the next two years.

While deals relating to players' own sponsorships that are not within Geelong's salary cap or soft cap were an issue in the findings, star player Bailey Smith's affiliation with club sponsor Cotton On is understood not to be a key matter from the audit.

The Cats have not been found to have breached the league's total player payments threshold.

Geelong will now be subject to expanded procedures over the next two years as a result of the AFL's findings, with the club to be "actively monitored by the AFL".

The AFL released the following statement on Wednesday:

"The AFL has completed the Extended Audit into the compliance of the Geelong Football Club (the Club) with AFL Rules relating to the Total Player Payment Limit (TPP Limit) and Football Department Expenditure Limit (Soft Cap Limit).

"The AFL and the Club agreed to undertake the Extended Audit following the identification of potential compliance issues related to the disclosure and reporting of third-party arrangements, during the conduct of a General Audit in 2024.

"The Extended Audit included a wider timeframe (2019-2024) and involved the review of extensive documentation as well as interviews with various personnel from the Club, Club associates and third parties.

"This process was supported by EY Australia who provided external forensic expertise and was led at the AFL by the General Counsel, General Manager of Clubs & Scheduling and Head of Salary Cap & Soft Cap Compliance.

"The Extended Audit found, on the basis of the information obtained and reviewed by the AFL, that the Club did not breach the AFL TPP Limit nor the AFL player movement rules in any season within the timeframe assessed.

"The Extended Audit discovered a series of non-disclosures and/or late disclosures of arrangements with Club associates and third parties, that were required to be reported to the AFL.

"In respect of the AFLW program, the non-disclosures identified were found to be administrative errors and do not amount to material breaches of the TPP Rules or player movement rules.

"In connection with the findings of the Extended Audit, the AFL has imposed the following sanctions on the Club, which have been accepted:

"1. A $77,500 fine of which $40,000 is suspended for two (2) years pending that no future TPP Limit or Soft Cap disclosure breaches are identified, and that the Club meets a set of Additional Compliance Requirements (outlined below) over that period of time;

"2. The Club will implement Additional Compliance Requirements which will be actively monitored by the AFL over the next two (2) years, including:

  • Implementation of enhanced internal governance protocols between club employees and third parties;
  • Club to maintain active registers of arrangements with Club associates and third-parties, which may be inspected by the AFL upon request at any time during the period;
  • Expanded AFL assurance procedures to be applied to players contracting or re-contracting with the Club; and
  • Expanded disclosure and confirmation procedures that associates of the Club must comply with,

"The AFL acknowledges the Club's cooperation in voluntarily agreeing to the conduct of the Extended Audit process and the manner of its participation in that process.

"The AFL also foreshadows that, on account of learnings arising from the conduct of the Extended Audit, improvements will be introduced, across all Clubs, in due course to education with respect to both AFL and AFLW TPP Limit and Soft Cap Limit rules, the application of those rules to Club associates and third-parties and with respect to the AFL's compliance and audit activities on those rules."

In a club statement, Cats CEO Steve Hocking said the club will look to "strengthen our education and governance processes moving forward".

"The Club and its personnel have fully cooperated throughout the audit process and worked closely with the AFL and EY to transparently provide access, documentation and information as required," he said. 

"We acknowledge the outcome of the audit has confirmed the Club has not breached AFL TPP limits nor the AFL player movement rules.

"We also acknowledge the audit identified a number of non-disclosure items over the six-year period. We accept the AFL's sanctions for these errors and will strengthen our education and governance processes moving forward."