Arabic version: دروموند يعتذر بشأن إقرار جيلونغ للتنازل عن دعاوى الارتجاج

According to The Guardian, AFL Commission chair Craig Drummond has apologised over Geelong’s secret concussion agreement with Jake Kolodjashnij, saying the club “went too far” by including a waiver in an informed-consent document.

Drummond was Geelong’s president and sat on the club board when the agreement was approved in 2024. Kolodjashnij took on legal responsibility for potential future head trauma under the deal, which Geelong scrapped on Thursday. The AFL said it had not approved the arrangement.

Drummond said Kolodjashnij’s welfare had been central to discussions involving the player, his family, doctors and insurers. He said the player had been medically cleared to play, but acknowledged that, regardless of the player’s agreement, the waiver would be removed.

He also said the waiver did not remove Kolodjashnij’s protections under statutory health and safety laws. Drummond cited a process failure over lodging the agreement with the AFL and AFL Players’ Association, and said he had not and would not take part in the AFL’s assessment of the matter.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said Geelong was expected to formally respond by early next week after receiving a “please explain”. He said the matter was being handled at AFL executive level and declined to say whether Drummond should stand down during the investigation. Geelong chief executive Steve Hocking had not ruled out a sanction while accepting responsibility for the waiver.