Eddie McGuire and James Hird have called for the AFL to step in and stop employees involved in award-voting from having roles with gambling companies.
The murky issue has become a hot topic in the competition with umpire Nick Foot previously working for SportsBet as a presenter.
Foot’s dual role was discussed intensely after he reported Zak Butters for dissent, with the AFL backing the umpire at the time.
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Foot has since left that position.
Kane Cornes was also given the choice between his SportsBet commercial arrangement or his voting role for the All-Australian team and Rising Star award. He decided to quit his AFL voting responsibilites and stay on with the gambling company.
Kane Cornes. Nine
The decisions around Foot and Cornes were made by SportsBet, who confirmed the company would no longer feature sporting administrators or officials.
Luke Hodge also works for TAB and votes on the All-Australian team and on Seven’s Agenda Setters he wasn’t willing to discuss if there was any issue for him.
McGuire believes it should be the AFL making a definitive call and not leaving it to the gambling companies to decide.
“We’re not having to wait for (Tabcorp CEO) Gil McLachlan to make the call on TAB are we?,” he said on Nine’s Footy Classified.
“How about the AFL comes out and says ‘from here on in, if you’re getting a payment from a betting company, you are disqualified from voting on any awards or being involved in anything that has a betting component’.
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Eddie McGuire on Footy Classified. Nine
“(SportsBet employee) Kate McCarthy is also involved in this because she is an All-Australian selector for the AFLW, however there’s no betting market on that. But she did vote last year on the Norm Smith Medal.
“Just make it easy, there are plenty of good people in football who can come in and do these jobs. If you’re a professional and a broadcaster and your job is to analyse and scrutinise like Kane Cornes does, then you do your job and work for the people who pay and buy your advertising in your business.
“Trying to have two bob each way, I don’t know why the AFL aren’t the ones coming out and saying (you can’t do both).”
Hird agreed, saying it’s up to the AFL to say “you can’t be in those roles”.
McGuire added TAB will probably race to make a decision now “because everyone has the moral high ground on these things”.
The former Collingwood president concluded his argument with a trademark analogy.
“Don’t see the meat grinder and stick your head into it, just make it easy.”
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