The AFL has awarded Fremantle the win over St Kilda, with the league's commission deciding after a special meeting on Wednesday that fairness must prevail, according to the AFL's official website.
The AFL has awarded Fremantle the win over St Kilda, with the league's commission deciding after a special meeting today that fairness must prevail, according to the AFL's official website.
The AFL Commission met for more than four hours on Wednesday afternoon, hearing submissions from both the Saints and the Dockers.
In handing down the decision, AFL Commission chairman Ron Evans said that all timekeepers would be reminded again if their requirement to ring the siren until acknowledged by the field umpire and also committed the AFL to immediately improving the technology available to umpires so that they know immediately when it is the end of the match.
"The AFL commission has determined that the correct interpretation of the relevant rules and regulation is that the match concluded immediately after the siren sounded to end the match in the final quarter," Evans said.
"Effective of this interpretation is that the Fremantle Football Club won the match.
"The commission understands and accepts that there will be significant debate over the outcome of this afternoon's hearing and the final decision, however, it is the responsibility of the AFL commission to administer the game in the best interests of the competition - I believe that is what we have done today."
Evans said the AFL took full responsibility for incident.
"As the organisation charged with the management of the national competition, the AFL accepts full responsibility for what took place and unreservedly apologises for the clubs involved, the players and football fans," Evans said.
"Since Sunday's incident, the AFL has acted decisively and moving quickly to investigate the incident - seeking submissions from the competing clubs and compiling that evidence for the commission to consider this afternoon.
"It was vital that the process be thorough, fair and just and it was also important the clubs be given time to prepare their submissions. Both clubs acknowledge that it was the right and proper that the commission determined this matter."
Evans said several action points will now be enforced from next weekend's matches to ensure that this situation will not occur again.
These processes include:
1. That all AFL timekeepers be instructed about their obligations and reminded of the process in correctly signaling the end of each quarter and their requirements under the rules.
2. An immediate review of the siren and audio system at each AFL venue to check the decibel level of each siren.
3. The investigation of new technology to ensure that the field umpires are alerted to immediately after the siren sounds.
