Tanking affair darkens for Dees ....... (Age)

[Penelope]

AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has warned any coach found to have deliberately tanked games would be banished from football for life.

He would never work in football again. There would be an investigation into the club and there would be severe sanctions

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/life-bans-for-coaches-found-tanking-andrew-demetriou/story-e6frf9io-1226114285107

What's changed little wog man?

What a joke.

The little dung ball should give it away now, he doesn't have a shred of credibility.

[one-eyed]

From twitter just before:

"A decision around the @melbournefc tanking investigation is imminent, AFL.com.au understands:"

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-18/melbourne-tanking-investigation-nears-end

[one-eyed]

MELBOURNE remained hopeful on Monday night of diluting its expected $500,000 fine as a result of the AFL's six-month investigation into whether it deliberately lost games in 2009.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/dees-push-to-have-fine-halved-20130218-2enhp.html#ixzz2LFhQfhLI

[one-eyed]

Dean Bailey and Chris Connolly will be forced to serve full term of bans for their roles in Melbourne tanking saga

    Mark Robinson and Michael Warner
    From: Herald Sun
    February 19, 2013

FORMER Melbourne coach Dean Bailey and his football lieutenant Chris Connolly will be forced to serve the full term of bans for tanking.

The Herald Sun last night confirmed the AFL had rejected a bid to have part of their sentences suspended.

Bailey and Connolly will each be barred from working in the AFL for several months. The pair will become the face of tanking with Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab appearing to have escaped sanction in the seven-month probe.

The AFL Commission considered a report on the investigation into Melbourne's 2009 season at a meeting yesterday. Melbourne will be fined about $500,000 - but has been spared the loss of draft picks or premiership points.

Despite Melbourne's protests, it is believed the AFL have found the Demons were guilty of deliberately manipulating results.

Bailey, who is an assistant coach at Adelaide, has refused to comment since the investigation began.

He was sacked midway through 2011 and said at his final press conference: "I was asked to do the best thing by the Melbourne Football Club and I did it. I put players in different positions."

Bailey did not explain who asked him.

The AFL tanking investigation, led by chief integrity officer Brett Clothier, involved dozens of interviews with past and present Demons officials.

At the centre of the investigation was Melbourne's selection and game-day strategy during the contentious 2009 season.

Club insiders have claimed Bailey was under fierce internal pressure to lose games.

It was also alleged several club figures held a secret meeting in 2009 to plot their tanking strategy.

Connolly became a central figure after it was reported he reminded football officials about the importance of losing matches to improve the club's draft position.

He no longer works in Melbourne's football department but is employed by the club in marketing.

Matches scrutinised by the AFL included Melbourne's Round 17 loss to Sydney at Manuka Oval and the after-the-siren Round 18 loss to Richmond.

http://www.news.com.au/sport/afl/dean-bailey-and-chris-connolly-will-be-forced-to-serve-full-term-of-bans-for-their-roles-in-melbourne-tanking-saga/story-fnelctok-1226580702476

[mightytiges]

What a surprise the AFL went soft on Melbourne  . No doubt the Dees deliberately tanked but it's a bit hard for the AFL to throw the book at a club for tanking when the AFL created a draft system that was rewarding losing and being exploited by other clubs and not just by the Demons.

[gerkin greg]

How can they not lose a first round draft pick? That's what they cheated to get. Unbelievable, just unbelievable.

[dwaino]

Softer than Jack Watts.

[one-eyed]

THE AFL has called a press conference for 2pm (AEDT) regarding the ongoing Melbourne FC investigation from the 2009 season.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-19/tanking-inquiry-results-to-be-revealed

[one-eyed]

MELBOURNE has been found not guilty of tanking after a forensic seven-month investigation by the AFL.

But key individuals - then-coach Dean Bailey and then-football manager Chris Connolly - have been found guilty of conduct unbecoming, stemming from comments made by Connolly.

The pair will be suspended for a period by the AFL.

An AFL press conference - with Gillon McLachlan and Andrew Demetriou in attendance - is scheduled for 2pm AEDT [ed. coming up now]

It's understood the Demons will be fined $500,000 for being the employers of Connolly and Bailey, which will be paid by the club in instalments.

The Demons will not lose any draft picks because the AFL will announce that the club was found not guilty of the serious charge of conduct prejudical to the draft.

In other words, not guilty of deliberately losing matches at the end of the 2009 season.

Rule 17.1 states in part that “conduct prejudicial to the draft means conduct which has the purpose or has or is likely to have the effect of hindering, prejudicing, interfering with or preventing the natural operation of the draft.

AFL Regulations 19 (A5) says: “A person, being a player, a coach or an assistant coach, must at all times perform on their merits and must not induce, or encourage, any player, coach or assistant coach not to perform on their merits in any match – or in relation to any aspect of the match, for any reason whatsoever”.

No action will be taken against chief executive Cameron Schwab.

More than 50 past and present club staff were interviewed by the AFL and club documents and computers were examined.

In the end, AFL investigators found no evidence to that the club tanked.

It's accepted that clubs can experiment with player positioning on the field.

It's understood a contentious move in the Melbourne-Richmond game in Round 18 of 2009, where Melbourne ruckman Paul Johnson found himself on Richmond's small forward Nathan Brown, has been determined as a brief match-up and not, as has been suggested, a deliberate coaching move.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/melbourne-fc-found-not-guilty-of-tanking-but-bailey-and-connolly-cop-suspensions/story-e6frf9jf-1226580877741


Melbourne will hold a press conference at 3.30pm this arvo.

[one-eyed]

Gillon McLachlan at the AFL press conference:

* No directive from Melbourne's board to lose games. No evidence of Schwab and the Board being aware of what was happening.

* Melbourne didn't set out to lose games in 2009.

* Connolly (poor comments in a meeting) and Bailey's actions were prejudicial to the interests of the AFL. Both have now shown remorse. Bailey told the AFL he felt pressured around selections and positions of players in response to that meeting but there's no evidence of him deliberately making moves to lose games. 

* Connolly suspended until Feb 2014; Bailey suspended for first 16 rounds of 2013.

* Melbourne FC must accept ultimate responsibility for the actions of individuals they employed and are fined $500,000. 3rd largest find in AFL history reflecting the seriousness of the issue.

[gerkin greg]

Gillon was eventually pushed into saying that Connelly had admitted to making comments to the Football Department to secure a Priority Pick. Bailey felt pressured by these comments to take certain actions to achieve that. What was the end result? Yep, Melbourne secured a Priority Pick. Is that tanking? Apparently not.

Weak as pee. In the words of the immortal Tony Harrison, this is an outrage!

[one-eyed]

MELBOURNE president Don McLardy has accepted the AFL's sanctions handed down to the club after an investigation in to its on-field performance in 2009.

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2013-02-19/mclardy-accepting-of-afl-penalty

[RollsRoyce]

So, Melbourne get smacked on the wrist with a wet noodle and Carlton aren't even looked at. Typical gutless AFL. The only real karma to come from all this from Melbourne's perspective at least was that the bloke they tanked for (Sculley) walked out on the club for a big wad of cash anyway. 

[Dubstep Dookie]

Unbelievable.

[Chuck17]

Softer than Jack Watts.

That's pretty soft