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The AFL have handed Brad Scott a $30,000 and North Melbourne a $50,000 fine after the Kangaroos coach said umpires weren’t paying Lindsay Thomas free kicks following their nine-point loss to Hawthorn on the weekend.
The coach’s $30,000 fine is the most severe for such an offence in recent memory – dwarfing ex-Essendon coach, James Hird’s $20,000 fine for labelling Scott McLaren’s umpiring “disgraceful” in 2004, and Grant Thomas’ $15,000 penalty for going after the character of umpires in 2005.
“The comments by Brad Scott, on behalf of the club in his position as senior coach, were extremely serious in regard to the conduct and professionalism of the umpires and how they officiate all players equally across the competition,” said AFL general manager of football operations Mark Evans.
“It was totally inappropriate for any doubt to be cast over their professionalism in a public environment without having detailed the facts of what had occurred in any player / umpire conversations through the course of the match.
“The umpiring department and the AFL were appreciative that the club moved quickly to retract and apologise for the statements made, but this was a very significant breach of the AFL Player Rules.”
Brad Scott has also received a sanction of $30,000 for the comments he made on behalf of the club at the post-match press conference.
— AFL (@AFL) June 21, 2016
Scott seemed frustrated with the officiating at the press conference after the game against Hawthorn, and when asked if he thought the small forward received unfair treatment, he replied:
“I know he is (unfairly treated), because the umpires told our players that, (saying) ‘Well, he’s a ducker, so we don’t pay high free kicks to Lindsay’.
“They told our guys that, so that’s clearly a preconceived idea.
“You just want the umpires to umpire what they see, not their preconceived ideas.”
The coach was then forced to make an embarrassing retraction, Scott yesterday saying he made a “terrible mistake by not fact-checking”.
“I’d like to add my personal, unreserved apology for statements made in the post-game press conference,” Scott said on Monday afternoon.
“I was given information on the way into the press conference that I believed to be matter of fact, not rumour or innuendo. It came from a trusted source and I believed those comments.
“I was then asked a direct question which I answered openly and honestly. Clearly, 12 hours later after an investigation by the club, that statement of fact had turned out to be completely incorrect and lacked any factual basis.”
The misleading statements, which seriously brought the umpire’s judgment into question, proved to be costly for both Scott and the Kangaroos.
"How did you not get fined? James, look at me."
"I can't, I'll start laughing." pic.twitter.com/QjaUIOroBQ
— Titus O'Reily (@TitusOReily) June 21, 2016
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