Updated November 30, 2012 20:12:15
Kurt Tippett has been fined $50,000 and suspended for half the 2013 AFL season while the Adelaide Crows have been fined $300,000 for breaching the salary cap and tampering with the draft.
Adelaide and its chief executive Steven Trigg pleaded guilty to three charges in relation to "conduct prejudicial to the draft" and "conduct in breach of the total player payments provisions" at the hearing at AFL House in Melbourne.
Tippett was fined and suspended for the 2013 preseason and season, half of which was suspended for five years, by the specially convened AFL Commission after Fairfax reports emerged the forward was willing to settle for a "substantial suspension" for his part in the irregularities written into his AFL contract.
The Crows have also been banned from the first two rounds of the 2013 national draft.
Trigg was fined $50,000 and banned from any club role for six months, while Harper has been suspended for two months and his predecessor John Reid, no longer directly involved in the AFL, was banned for 12 months, suspended for six months.
All suspensions begin on January 1, 2013.
The charges stemmed from the contract that Tippett signed with Adelaide in 2009, which made him the Crows' highest-paid player.
Adelaide allegedly agreed to trade him to a club of his choice for a second-round draft pick - a massively lopsided arrangement - when the contract finished at the end of 2012.
The Crows allegedly made a further payment of up to $200,000 to Tippett outside the salary cap.
"The club accepts the sanctions from the AFL Commission and accepts that the AFL does not tolerate any breach, intended or unintended," Adelaide said in a statement shortly after its punishments were handed down.
"The club is confident that the youth, ability and character of its player list, the capacity of its coaching panel and off-field leadership, coupled with the quality of its strategic recruiting in the 2011 and 2012 drafts and trading periods, will help it offset the loss of high draft picks this year and next year."
Tippett said in a statement that he was "bitterly disappointed" with the outcome.
"I trusted the Adelaide Football Club and for the duration of my contract I did my utmost for the club on and off the field," he said.
"It is bitterly disappointing, then, to learn that my trust and best endeavours have been to my substantial detriment.
"Only during the recent AFL trade period did I learn that some terms in the Adelaide offer may have contravened AFL rules, and since that point I and all parties associated with me have cooperated fully with the AFL in its investigations."
The 104-game forward said he had nothing to hide.
"I have ... only refrained from media comment in recent weeks on legal advice and out of respect for the AFL investigation process," he said.
"Through my legal representative I asked for an open hearing today in the hope that the truth would be revealed.
"I pleaded guilty to the two charges on advice without any admission of liability and despite being assured there were valid defences available to me in respect to both charges.
"It is very important to me that I concentrate on preparing for next season and remove all distractions from my preparation.
"I am glad that this matter is now finalised and I look forward to moving on and playing football."
The Crows said the indiscretions were "errors of judgement".
"Never was there any intent to gain unfair advantage, compromise the draft, breach the salary cap or make improper player payments," the club said.
"The club and its officers always acted consistent with their intent to uphold the integrity of the draft and the club did not breach the salary cap. This is accepted by the AFL.
"However, it was wrong to generate a letter of agreement outside of Kurt Tippett's AFL-lodged contract."
The statement said the Crows board will meet soon to establish how to restructure the suspension-riddled front office will operate in the coming months.
"I think you have to give the benefit [of the doubt] to the players," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou told reporters on Friday afternoon.
"Kurt Tippett was a 22-year-old who was homesick and wanted to return to the Gold Coast.
"I believe this impaired his judgement. It will probably happen again one day to a player who thinks it's okay to cut a corner.
"It wasn't a scenario that gave the club a significant advantage over other clubs."
The hearing was a marathon affair, beginning at 8:00am (AEDT) and stretching until late in the afternoon.
It considered 11 charges in the league's biggest salary cap and list management scandal since Carlton was slugged with massive penalties in 2002.
In the lead-up to the hearing, Adelaide went out of its way to make public its willingness to cooperate with the AFL during the investigation and also surrendered its first two picks in the 2012 draft.
The AFL released a statement on Wednesday saying Tippett will be given until Monday to register his financial terms for the December 11 preseason draft.
The Greater Western Sydney Giants - who have targeted Tippett - have the first draft pick.
Tippett, who wants to move to the Sydney Swans, will not be able to join any club as a free agent and is likely to put a large figure on his own head in an attempt to dissuade the Giants from selecting him.
Adelaide was trying to finalise a deal with the Swans in October when instead it went to the AFL over secret third-party payments that formed part of its 2009 contract with the key forward.
The league immediately opened an investigation and ruled the Crows could not delist Tippett.
After weeks of speculation he registered on Wednesday for the preseason draft.
Sydney reaffirmed its interest in Tippett in a statement shortly after the sanctions were handed down.
"Although today's decision is obviously a disappointing setback for Kurt, we have always seen Kurt as a long-term player and we will go to the preseason draft with the intention of selecting him if he's available at our pick," Swans football general manager Dean Moore said.
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australia First posted November 30, 2012 17:52:12
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