AFL won’t appeal tribunal call on Charlie Cameron

This week, the AFL has decided not to appeal the tribunal’s decision to downgrade Charlie Cameron’s rough conduct suspension to a fine. Despite considering a one-match ban as the appropriate sanction, the league has accepted the tribunal’s ruling.

On Tuesday night, the Brisbane Lions star contested his one-match suspension for a dumping tackle on Melbourne’s Jake Lever at the MCG the previous week. The tribunal dismissed Cameron’s argument that the impact of the incident should have been graded as “low” instead of “medium.”

However, the tribunal, chaired by Jeff Gleeson, found exceptional and compelling circumstances to exercise its discretion and reduce the ban to a fine. They cited Cameron’s clean disciplinary record over his 207-game career as a key factor in their decision.

As a result, Cameron will be able to play in Brisbane’s upcoming important clash against Geelong on Saturday night. AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon stated that while the league believed a one-game ban was the appropriate sanction, they respected the tribunal’s use of discretion.

Match review officer Michael Christian had initially graded the tackle as careless conduct, medium impact, and high contact – resulting in the one-match ban. However, the tribunal’s decision to convert the ban to a fine was ultimately influenced by Cameron’s previous record and character references from Eddie Betts and an Indigenous elder.

While the outcome could potentially set a precedent for future cases, Dillon did not directly address this in his statement. However, he did mention that the AFL would assess whether character references should be a factor in tribunal guidelines during the end-of-season review.

The decision to give Cameron special consideration was noteworthy, especially as the AFL has been focused on penalizing actions that could lead to head injuries or concussions. In the past, the league faced backlash for a similar situation in 2017 involving Bachar Houli, prompting an appeal due to a perceived lenient penalty based on character references.

Despite this recent decision, the AFL’s stance on maintaining player safety remains a key priority, and they will continue to review and refine their disciplinary processes to ensure fair and consistent outcomes.