Channel 7 pundit Kane Cornes and AFL boss Andrew Dillon issue apology to umpires over one of the most controversial incidents this season

Daily Mail​

05-06-2025

Former Port Adelaide player Kane Cornes and AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon have both issued apologies to four umpires following one of the most controversial incidents so far this season.
Channel Seven pundits Cornes, Dale Thomas and Luke Hodge were reportedly being threatened with legal action this week by a group of officials.
It came after they were critical of umpires Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer, Justin Power and Martin Rodger, following the saga that has surrounded Lachie Schultz's recent concussion.
The former Port Adelaide player had also been critical of the situation on SEN's Sports Day.
However, on Thursday night, before the Western Bulldogs clash against Hawthorn, Cornes, 42, 'unreservedly' apologised to the officials, adding that the allegations he made on SEN 'were false'.
'On the May 14th edition of SEN Sports Day I accused field umpires who were officiating that round nine match between Fremantle and Collingwood of misleading the AFL and that they had not seen the incident in which Collingwood's Lachie Schultz suffered a concussion,' he said in a statement.
'I made some of those comments having seen two initial statements made by the AFL with regards to the matter on Friday, May 9th and then also on Tuesday May the 13th, and further comments after seeing the additional statement made by the AFL.'
Cornes, who has stepped away from his media duties over the past week, added: 'I acknowledge that the allegations made by me on this show were false and I withdraw them. I understand the umpires truthfully told the AFL that they saw the incident and did not mislead the AFL.
'I unreservedly apologise to Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer, Justin Power and Martin Roger for making these false allegations.'
AFL boss Dillon, has also issued an apology to the officials. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the footy chief had held a phone call with the four umpires and issued his apologies for the manner in which the situation was handled.
Schultz had suffered a concussion following a horror head clash with Fremantle's Jordan Clark during Collingwood's 14-point victory against the Dockers on May 8.
The AFL had initially said that umpires did not see that the Magpies star had been injured and allowed play to continue. AFL football operations chief Laura Kane had stated that the information the umpires had provided was 'inconsistent' with audio that was recovered by The Agenda Setters television show. She appeared to claim that umpires had misled the league over whether they had seen the injured player.
The audio appeared to show that umpires had chosen not to halt play having been aware of the nature of the forward's injury.
That had led to criticisms of the umpires by Cornes, Thomas and Hodge on The Agenda Setters.
Channel 9's Tom Morris later revealed that the umpires were considering legal action against the Channel 7 pundits
However, it was later revealed that there had been a miscommunication between the AFL and the umpires.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, Dillon's apology had been made in a bid to rebuild relationships between the AFL and its officials - not because of legal action that had reportedly been threatened.
The outlet adds that the umpires are expecting Cornes to make a second apology on The Agenda Setters at some stage next week.
According to Channel 9's Tom Morris, the four umpires had been 'considering' legal action over the saga.
AFL Umpires Association boss Rob Kerr told Morris in a statement that the umpires had been 'advised on their legal rights'.
'Being falsely accused of lying and misleading the AFL goes beyond simply questioning the management of the actual incident,' Kerr said in a statement.
'Public commentary that casts aspersions on an individual's integrity and professional competence, particularly when that is core to the role they perform, harms their personal and professional standing and it is reasonable to consider how that can be rectified.'
The umpires were said to be 'furious' at Hodge, Thomas and Cornes' comments.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Channel 7 for comment.
Kane, meanwhile, has admitted that the processes had failed but has not publicly apologised to the umpires.
'Today we have determined there was a miscommunication from members of the umpiring department, not the field umpires, which formed the basis of our initial public statement on Friday,' Kane said.
'Those team members have been counselled and reminded of the importance of ensuring our process is fully followed regarding these types of incidents and in this instance, it was not.
'I have asked GM Football Performance Josh Mahoney to review these processes to ensure the right information is communicated and to ensure this does not happen again.