Geelong are reportedly expecting multiple fines potentially as high as five figures as an audit into third-party payments at the club comes to a close.
The AFL began its investigation of the Cats as concerns arose around coach Chris Scott's role with sponsor Morris Finance, while speculation on Bailey Smith's ties with Cotton On as an ambassador raised eyebrows after he joined Geelong, in which Cotton On is a major sponsor of.
The Age also revealed in December draft loan documents that recorded a contract involving a club sponsor and former Geelong captain Joel Selwood, which allegedly positioned him "to receive $10,000 in interest".
Following the audit, which has "virtually" reached its conclusion, Geelong look set to avoid major ramifications but could face several fines for failing to lodge and notify the AFL for acceptable third-party payments, according to journalist Caroline Wilson.
"The audit is virtually finished... My belief is that Geelong are expecting a fine, or there will be a fine from the AFL over the coming weeks," Wilson said on Agenda Setters on Monday.
"Geelong have been adamant, from the word go, that there is no smoking gun here, that nothing untoward was going on at the Geelong Football Club in terms of any attempt to hide third-party payments.
"The AFL accepts this, but there have been discrepancies. There have been lodgments that should have been noted that weren't, and they will lead to potentially several five-figure fines.
"Whether they go beyond five figures, I can't tell you. I do know that one major lodgement issue was a car to a senior AFLW player that wasn't lodged, and I think there might be a couple of other things as well.
Similar incidents have occurred in the past, such as when the Brisbane Lions failed to lodge player payments correctly in 2004 and 2017. The 2004 incident resulted in a mammoth $260,000 fine for the club after 26 incidents worth $10,000 fines were uncovered.
The fines related to Brisbane's failure to lodge documents concerning player payments within the required time frame, as set by the AFL, while the failure to comply in 2017 occurred due to an administrative error, resulting in a single sanction of $10,000.
"We're not saying that there was any cheating or there was any attempt to cheat the salary cap," Wilson said.
"What it will lead to, and the AFL have told Geelong and other clubs this, is that there's been a loosening of management issues at many clubs, and a warning will be given to all clubs. And this has been led by what's happened at Geelong."
