AFL Central Victoria has no concerns with the six clubs that have been reviewed as part of the introduction of the salary cap into local football this year.
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Reviews of five clubs across the region have been completed, with the last one expected to be ticked off on by the end of the week.
The six clubs under review are across the Bendigo, Heathcote District, Loddon Valley and North Central leagues and have been selected under a range of criteria, including:
• Historical high levels of player expenditure;
• Ongoing on-field success;
• Close to allocated points and/or recruitment of players with high points; and
• Insights and recommendations by the regional general manager.
The reviews have been conducted by AFL Victoria-appointed integrity officers.
Five of the clubs were selected by AFLCV, while one was picked randomly.
While AFLCV confirmed the reviews have been undertaken, it would not name the six clubs, but region manager Carol Cathcart said “all clubs have been assessed as being compliant with the policy.”
The AFLCV region has three levels of salary caps its clubs must be compliant to – $160,000 (Bendigo), $140,000 (Heathcote District and North Central) and $120,000 (Loddon Valley).
“The reviews look at certain components of club book keeping and align that information with the games played by players and their contracts,” Cathcart said on Wednesday.
“From what we’ve found at this point, every club that is assessed is compliant with the policy.
“The (salary cap) program has been put in place by AFL Victoria and we at AFL Central Victoria fully support it.
“The program was initially brought in with the support of clubs in wanting a system that can assist in trying to stem the work for volunteers around having to continually raise more funds.
“We think the salary cap and the player points system are really important in assisting volunteers to do that.”
All AFLCV clubs can expect to be reviewed over the next five years, and some potentially on more than one occasion.
The AFL Victoria policy details three levels of breaches in which clubs can be punished – less than $5000 over the salary cap, between $5000 and $25,000 and over $25,000.
Penalties can include removal of player points, premiership points and finals series eligibility.
