Salary cap warning for AFLCV clubs after major league team stripped of premiership

That's the warning for central Victorian football clubs after the Border Mail reported the Ovens and Murray Football Netball League board stripped the Wangaratta Magpies of their 2022 premiership because of a salary cap breach.

The Magpies, who defeated Yarrawonga by three points in the grand final, were found guilty of breaching the league's $125,000 salary cap last year by $28,000.

The AFL North East Border Disciplinary Committee decided against stripping Wangaratta of its flag as part of its sanctions, but at a special meeting on Monday night, the OMFNL board ruled that the club would lose the 2022 premiership.

The Magpies were originally fined $28,000, deemed ineligible to win premiership points in the first two rounds of the 2023 season and had their Total Team Points reduced from 40 to 36.

According to the Border Mail, Yarrawonga won't be awarded the flag and there will be no winner of the 2022 premiership.

The O&M's 2022 salary cap of $125,000 was the same level as the Bendigo Football Netball League.

Fellow AFLCV leagues Heathcote District, Loddon Valley and North Central had salary caps of $106,600.

"The salary cap is an important part of maintaining the integrity of the game of football, across central Victoria,'' AFLCV regional manager Craig Armstead said.

"We'll continue to support and monitor all of the processes related to the salary cap. There will be audits continuing and, starting in 2023, it's now a requirement that all grand final teams will be audited.

"As a minimum there will be at least two clubs from every men's league in central Victoria that will be audited."

Armstead said AFLCV was mindful of the extra workload placed on club volunteers to administer the salary cap and player points systems.

"The salary cap does require a lot of work at club level as well as league and region level,'' he said.

"We're conscious of trying to get the balance right of maintaining an important part of the integrity of the competition, but at the same time minimising the administration work required.

"It's a balancing act that we'll continue to work with."

Armstead confirmed that the audit process for central Victorian clubs for their respective 2022 seasons were ongoing.

"We don't have any outcomes yet,'' he said.

Salary caps and player points have been part of local football since 2016.

The Bendigo Football Netball League has had two salary cap breaches in that period.

Last year Kyneton was handed a suspended fine after the Tigers breached the 2021 salary cap, which had initially been set at $125,000 for the BFNL, but later became a pro rata cap after the season was severely impacted by abandoned rounds due to COVID restrictions.

What had originally been an 18 round BFNL season was ultimately cut back to just 12 games, and only 11 for the Tigers after a August 14 forfeit against Sandhurst.

In 2020, Kangaroo Flat was the first BFNL club to be penalised for breaching the salary cap.

The AFLCV Player Payments Disciplinary Committee found the Roos exceeded the 2019 allowable player payment amount of $150,000 by $11,900 and failed to lodge declarations and statements of payments by the due date.

The Roos had their 2020 and 2021 salary caps reduced by $6000 each year and they had a reduction of three Total Player Points for the 2020 season.

A fine of $15,000 was suspended for 24 months subject to compliance with the salary cap and TPP sanctions.

The Roos self-reported the breach at the end of the 2019 season.

Inglewood

Newbridge

Pyramid Hill

Marong

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