Friday, March 02, 2007

The AFL have decided not to suspend four players who were found to have
gambled on league fixtures. A report handed down by AFL investigators Allan
Roberts and Bill Kneebone found Simon Goodwin (Adelaide), Daniel Ward
(Melbourne), David Hale (the Kangaroos) and Kieren Jack (Sydney) were not
guilty of corrupt behaviour. However, all four players have been punished
with Goodwin receiving a $40,000 fine and Ward fined $10,000. Hale was
handed a suspended $5,000 fine while Jack received a reprimand. Reading from
a prepared statement this afternoon, Goodwin said he was embarrassed by his
actions.
"I'm here today to take responsibility for what I've done," he said. "What I
have done is wrong, I accept the findings of the AFL inquiry with which I
co-operated completely. I accept there needs to be a penalty." Goodwin said
he had not gambled on matches involving the Crows. "I did not bet against
the Adelaide Football Club, or in matches that involved my club, nor did I
bet using inside information or knowledge and no other player was involved,"
he said. "The bets I had were with a friend who is not an associate of the
club. However, I gambled knowing that it was wrong and that it was against
the rules." AFL football operations manager Adrian Anderson said the league
needed to take a firm stand against betting by players. He said the players
had fully assisted with the investigation. "The investigators' report found
there was no evidence of any player betting against his own team," he said.