AFL chief Andrew Demetriou takes a jab at Adelaide Crows over Tippett saga
- ANDREW CAPEL
- The Advertiser
- August 28, 2013 8:26PM
ADELAIDE has hit out at AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou, describing his accusation that the club didn't fully cooperate with the league over the Kurt Tippett salary cap scandal as "crap''.
Chairman Rob Chapman took offence to Demetriou's comments on an Adelaide radio station last night after the league boss said that Essendon had, "unlike the Crows'', cooperated fully over the supplements scandal which led to the heaviest sanctions in AFL history.
On hearing the comments on FIVEaa, Chapman rang Demetriou in disgust to put the Crows' case forward.
"And I said that's crap,'' a furious Chapman said.
"We self-reported and I walked him through it and the fact that I discovered the existence of the so-called side contract, which in effect was just a recording of conversations that went on.
"Within hours of (Crows chief executive) Steven Trigg, who was away on holiday overseas, landing from a 24-hour flight he was in my office.
"I reckon within an hour of him being in my office and us discussing this I personally rang Andrew Demeteriou and said I think we have a problem that he needs to be aware of and might need to investigate.
"He said Rob, I think you've done the right thing and in the event that some sanctions have to be applied this will hold you in good stead.
"He told me (last night) that he now remembers that call vividly.''
Demetriou had claimed Essendon's massive penalties, which included the loss of premiership points, a 12-month suspension for coach James Hird, a $2 million fine and the loss of three key draft picks, had been downgraded because it self-reported whereas Adelaide had not.
Chapman last night revealed just how hard he had worked to lessen the Crows' penalties, which included the loss of four draft picks, a $300,000 fine and suspensions of Trigg and football manager Phil Harper.
He said he came forward after Demetriou's comments and accusations yesterday from Crows members and supporters that he didn't battle hard enough after Essendon spent two days locked away with AFL heavyweights negotiating its penalties following seven months of investigation.
"I said to Andrew that we had the whole thing wrapped up in 40 days,'' Chapman said.
"The investigation started from the moment I hung up from him in my office and we battled hard.
"We had bare-fisted knuckle fights behind closed doors and really hard negotiations.
"People don't know that because we chose not to say that because it was the best thing for our footy club but we negotiated an outcome.
"Where it started to where it ended up was more than 50 per cent better that the $300,000 fine because it started as $1 million.
"(Originally) there were no suspensions, there were sackings and the draft picks were harsher than what we ended up with.''
Chapman described Essendon's sanctions as far worse than the Crows, noting they were the "heaviest handed down to an AFL club in history''.
"And they will take a lot to recover from,'' he said.
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