Geelong has been fined $40,000 for a breach of the AFL's Total Player Payment lodgement rules.
The AFL confirmed the sanction on Thursday, reiterating that the Cats had voluntarily reported the matter following an administrative error.
"AFL General Counsel Andrew Dillon today announced the Geelong Football Club had been sanctioned $40,000 for breaching the AFL Player Rules," an AFL statement read.
"Mr Dillon said the Geelong Football Club had voluntarily disclosed the breach as soon as it was discovered.
"The AFL's Investigations Manager Ken Wood found that the club had breached the Total Player Payment (TPP) lodgement rules through an inadvertent administrative error.
"He said the Geelong Football Club voluntarily advised the AFL of all the required information and the club's full co-operation had been taken into account regarding the penalty."
Geelong also released a statement following the sanction, accepting the AFL's investigation and decision.
"We made an inadvertent administrative error in our TPP related reporting that has been repeated over eight years," Cats CFO Simon Kelleher said.
"As soon as we discovered this error, we advised the AFL.
"The AFL investigated the matter and have passed down the sanction.
"We accept the penalty and have thoroughly reviewed our processes to ensure full compliance going forward."
According to Seven's Tom Browne, the breaches relate to GST on management fees.
The salary rules breach related to gst on some management fees the club pays on behalf of players
— Tom Browne (@TomBrowne7) March 5, 2020
