AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) wish to advise the TIO NTFL Nightcliff and St Mary’s Football Clubs have been found to be in breach of the TIO NTFL by-laws in relation to fly-in players.
These matters relate to the Division 1 Round 14 match on Saturday 15 January 2022 in which both Nightcliff and St Mary’s played more than the allowed three fly-in players.
As per 2021/22 NTFL By-Law 3.12 Fly-In Players, a fly-in player is defined as a player who has not established permanent residence in the Northern Territory before 31 December in the year the competition commences.
The breaches specifically relate to the non-compliant arrival dates of relocated players who were not allocated as Fly-In players. Both clubs currently have space on their Fly-In list and therefore are not in breach of total Fly-In players for the season.
AFLNT Community Football Manager Leigh Elder said after a week of COVID interruptions and restriction changes which distracted from the day-to-day operations of clubs, the NTFL is sympathetic to those involved.
“The NTFL is mindful of the challenges each of our clubs and their hard-working volunteers had in the preparation for Round 14 with a variety of COVID related challenges leaving the clubs scrambling to fill teams,” he said.
“In the first two weeks of the competition returning since the New Year, COVID-19 impacts have seen 18 games be forfeited within the senior competition.
“In this instance the relocation dates were only a few days off, however the rules as they stand must be enforced by the competition.”
Both clubs have co-operated fully with the NTFL, took ownership of their breaches and have taken measures to ensure further incidents do not occur.
As a result of the breaches, the Division 1 Round 14 match has become a no result game which means neither team will receive premiership points, percentage, or player allocations from this match to calculate towards their finals qualifications.
The clubs have been informed that any further breaches will have significant penalties, and the NTFL has offered to provide support needed to ensure further breaches do not occur. The Clubs have received suspended fines for these breaches due to the challenging circumstances and their cooperation with the competition.
The NTFL can confirm the Men’s Premier League competition has not been compromised.
Three other NTFL clubs have recently received warnings regarding fly-in player administration. These incidents however did not jeopardise the integrity of the games or exceed the total round or yearly allocation of fly-in players.
The investigation is complete and AFLNT and the NTFL will make no further comment.
