Is the AFL corrupt?

[R. Harvey 3 votes!]

After last nights loss I was absolutely furious and lucky I didn't go the game (I normally go to every match) or I would have been punching on with someone!
I have though since realised today that in my eyes now the AFL is just simply corrupt. What other reason is there for Collingwood to receive 8 free kicks
to none in the last quarter? The AFL simply needs Collingwood to be top 4 and then it brings in alot more money.
I think I have lost complete faith in the whole thing today, it is just a joke! Am I wrong here?

[bergholt]

After last nights loss I was absolutely furious and lucky I didn't go the game (I normally go to every match) or I would have been punching on with someone!
I have though since realised today that in my eyes now the AFL is just simply corrupt. What other reason is there for Collingwood to receive 8 free kicks
to none in the last quarter? The AFL simply needs Collingwood to be top 4 and then it brings in alot more money.
I think I have lost complete faith in the whole thing today, it is just a joke! Am I wrong here?

yup, you're wrong. don't mistake incompetence for conspiracy or you'll go mad living in this world.

[R. Harvey 3 votes!]

After last nights loss I was absolutely furious and lucky I didn't go the game (I normally go to every match) or I would have been punching on with someone!
I have though since realised today that in my eyes now the AFL is just simply corrupt. What other reason is there for Collingwood to receive 8 free kicks
to none in the last quarter? The AFL simply needs Collingwood to be top 4 and then it brings in alot more money.
I think I have lost complete faith in the whole thing today, it is just a joke! Am I wrong here?

yup, you're wrong. don't mistake incompetence for conspiracy or you'll go mad living in this world.

Haha Ok I won't Thanks!

[Hawkesbury Saint]

Incompetence means we stand cheated of a fair result. No conspiracy but the result is the same. Do you feel cheated? Incompetence and lack of moral fibre in the ones officiating can do that to you.

[saintspremiers]

Incompetence by Anderscum, Geesh and Dimwit who run the umps.

Corrupt re Whispers In The Sky fiasco.

[Kate]

I'd like to believe it was incompetance. But gee, the "luck" was all going one way wasn't it.

[ace]

For years now I have been suggesting that AFL is an abbreviation for corruption.

Even Plugger66 can't deny that.
Finally some of you are starting to identify the truth.

Collingwood in the top 4, especially with a top 2 home final is money in the bank for the AFL.
A draw would have been an effective loss to Collingwood.
Dean Margetts knew that, he delivered the result his masters wanted.

A gold medal win for Team Demetriou.

[Hawkesbury Saint]

That is an incredible accusation Ace! Are you for real? Sure looks that way to the untrained eye. Surely the answer is not as simple and as obvious as it looks.

[CURLY]

Corrupt yes. Ed Maguire made the statement that the AFL will have hell to plat if Collingwood dont win a flag before GC17 enter the comp.Guess what they did with some serious help and they havnt looked like loosing a player to either.

[Spud02]

Incompetence can explain a couple of isolated howlers, but not the kind of one-sidedness we saw last night......

[sainter104]

well now the AFL get 1st v 2nd blockbuster next week had saints won last night this wouldnt happen hmmmmmm makes you wonder

[mullet]

until there is an even draw then I have to wonder about the AFL as being a professionally run and completely fair sporting body.
The draw can be compromised and therefore so can the sport.
Some may call this corrupt, I prefer compromised.
As for umpires being corrupt, I am not so sure. I think the game has got too technical for them. However, it never fails to amaze me the number of frees that Milne does not get paid. I also think Sneider suffered for his clapping episode.
I also think we have been the only team to ever have a game taken off them 2 days later and a rule changed (umpire signals end of game). But not sure if this proves corruption or incompitence.

[Waltzing St Kilda]

No. The notion that the AFL directed the umpires to officiate in Collingwood's favour is preposterous.

The umpires on the night were weak-willed individuals who "played to the gallery" -- the gallery being a seething mass of Pies supporters who went ballistic on the rare occasion when St Kilda scored a couple of consecutive free kicks.

Is the AFL corrupt? That's another question. In 2005-06 we had, in short succession (a) the "whispers in the sky" whitewash, (b) Barry Hall's behind-the-play punch on Maguire incurring no penalty (a suspension may have cost the Swans a flag) and (c) Sirengate, in which the game was retrospectively awarded to Fremnantle in contravention of the AFL's own rules. Anyone observing all this objectively would have to conclude that the AFL was manipulating the system to achieve certain ends, just as it does each year with the "fixture". Which makes "corrupt" just a matter of definition.

[plugger66]

If some of you really feel this way then I feel very sorry for you. Why would anyone follow any competition if you think it is corrupt? Funny that the media, who love a beat up, never have mentioned it.

[SainterK]

Nah.

Just an umpire that took a liking to the big stage.

[felix]

I don't hear any other teams and their supporters jumping up and down. There is no unified voice happening here with teams screaming corruption which makes me think it may be just st kilda centric . Calls of bias , corruption , cheating, gambling etc have been written about here but if it was so obvious why isn't it obvious to every one else out side of the saints supporters. Why isn't it splashed across the media the afl is corrupt..Why don't the St Kilda football club say anything..? Why don't all those football media outlets say something..?

There has been some good stories written here about conspiracy theories they are great reading.
If the umps are so against us how come we made 2 Gand finals recently.(just so our membership grows so more people
Will go to the game so the afl cash in ?).

Maybe we are just the most pissed off supporter base in the league and if things don't go our way
We spit it and look for all the excuses under the sun to justify our poor record.
We are angry at losing close games , grand finals, good players and coaches, we are angry at stupid
Umpiring decisions that cost us games hence the outpourings of disbelief and grief.

Corruption now that's a big call.

[Bernard Shakey]

After last nights loss I was absolutely furious and lucky I didn't go the game (I normally go to every match) or I would have been punching on with someone!
I have though since realised today that in my eyes now the AFL is just simply corrupt. What other reason is there for Collingwood to receive 8 free kicks
to none in the last quarter? The AFL simply needs Collingwood to be top 4 and then it brings in alot more money.
I think I have lost complete faith in the whole thing today, it is just a joke! Am I wrong here?

Two things here:

1 We did get a free in the last quarter;

2 If you want a punch on over a game of footy, better you stay home for good.

[Bernard Shakey]

well now the AFL get 1st v 2nd blockbuster next week had saints won last night this wouldnt happen hmmmmmm makes you wonder

My fixture doesn't have Sydney and Adelaide playing next week. Are you still wondering?

[The Fireman]

they have cam tech for the goals..........cam tech in this instance could have saved our season....just sayin.

[ROLS-LEE]

Was it eddie that herd the umpires conspire in the whispers in the sky. Didnt it get put to bed very quickly afterwards. Maybe deal under the table for eddies mouth shut.

[Jacks Back]

If you don't think umpires get sucked in by crowds and home teams then have a look at the last quarter between the crows and dons. I couldn't care less but if I was an Essendon supported I would have been livid at the non free kicks that went against Essendon. Glad they lost though for saints sake.

[I Love Peter Kiel]

A one-word answer to the title question: yes.

[Tornateo]

I think the crowd has a lot to do with causing the umpires to make poor decisions. I personally don't believe they are corrupt or that the match was fixed, but that the umps caved to the pressure of the feral Collingwood supporters.

[oh when the]

I reckon teams like Collingwood, Carlton and Dons always get a free from the centre when they are in trouble, and the Pies did on Saturday.

[Enrico_Misso]

It's worse than 8-0 in the last quarter because that doesn't include the ones that weren't paid
- like the TWO that weren't paid to Kosi just outside the goal square


So yes - it was a corruption at work