Adelaide cop $7500 fine after Ben Keays and Josh Rachele caught wearing metal studs
The AFL sent a memo to all clubs on June 4 reminding them metal studs were illegal during games.
The league revealed Adelaide had received warnings and a please explain letter even before that memo.
Nevertheless, Keays and Rachele ignored the warnings and continued to wear metal studs.
The AFL said Keays elected to wear metal studs on four more occasions and Rachele twice more since Adelaide's initial warning.
Along with the club financial sanction, Keays has been slapped with a $5000 fine, while Rachele must pay $2500.
'Player health and safety is paramount to the AFL and the wearing of metal stops poses a significant injury risk to other players,' the AFL's football operations manager Laura Kane said in a statement.
'Disappointedly, despite multiple warnings, the players elected to wear the incorrect football boots.
'The $7500 club fine will not be included in Adelaide's soft cap.
The announcement capped a bad few days for Rachele, who injured his left knee during last week's win over Melbourne.
Rachele had surgery on Tuesday to repair a tear in his posterior capsular and it's unknown if he'll be able to return this year.
The fine has come after South Australian radio host Chris 'Ditts' Dittmar recently accused one club of a wild act of deception.
Dittmar said there's a 'top club' which had some players 'painting the studs on their boots' to make them look like they were not metal.
'So they're deliberately wearing illegal studs for better grip,' he said on Triple M.
'There's a club out there that are breaking the rules, and we think that's why this memo has been sent again this week.'
It first emerged on Channel 7's The Agenda Setters in June that the league had sent a memo to clubs, reminding them they are liable to a $40,000 sanction should a player be caught in metal or illegal stops.
'This is a timely reminder regarding the type of football boots which may be worn in AFL matches, specifically the prohibition of metal stops, which pose a serious risk of injury to players,' the memo said.
'To prioritise player safety, the AFL strictly enforces regulations that prohibit the use of metal stops or studs on football boots.
'As such, it is the responsibility of all AFL clubs and players to ensure that boots worn during matches fully comply with these rules.
'Under AFL regulations 4.8, clubs may be sanctioned up to $40,000 breach.'
Despite the memo, veteran AFL reporter Caroline Wilson said coaches around the league were still concerned because the injuries keep happening.
'According to many coaches and footy bosses I've spoken to ... these boots, often the stops, are really sharp and dangerous. The coaches say this is happening more and more; horrible injuries from boots,' she said.
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