Former AFL CEO Wayne Jackson has expressed his concern over the amount of power the AFL Players' Association have.
A pay dispute between the AFL and Players' Association has been dragging for most of the week after the league announced it would suspend the current season due to the coronavirus outbreak.
With the suspension causing massive financial problems for the AFL and its teams, the Players' Association offered up a 50 percent cut to their salaries, but the league wants that percentage to be somewhere between 75-80.
Jackson, former AFL boss between 1996 and 2003, believes the Players' Association already has too much say and influence over where the money in the game goes.
"Andrew Demetriou was the president of the AFLPA (when I was in charge) and he was easy to talk to and I would like to think the AFL was easy to talk to," Jackson told Sportsday SA.
"We were able to reach common ground on most things, but I think one of the most challenging, if not dangerous, issues AFL footy has at the present time is the players and the players union.
"I think they have far too much influence on the game and the cost of having that union is just horrific.
"I just read the AFL annual report and I think the AFL contributes $37 million a year to the AFL Players' Association.
"I just think that the players have far too much influence at the present time and again I hope the current climate that we're experiencing might bring some balance back into that."
The former AFL boss thinks the AFLPA is already involved in jobs at the league's headquarters which he believes shouldn't be happening.
"It worries me that there is investment and expenses in that association that is already being incurred by the AFL," he said.
"In other words, there's not a rationalisation of investments in people and jobs and I don't know why the AFLPA has to have offices when there's people in the AFL doing the same job.
"It might be welfare offices, it might be medicos, I read with interest that they're looking to get some advice on the coronavirus issue. Why the AFLPA needs to be involved in that, I don't know."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/former-afl-ceo-wayne-jackson-hits-out-at-aflpa-over-pay-dispute/4efc472c-ab12-47bd-9475-e7a9f3540dd4
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