Australian Football League side Sydney Swans has been told it "cannot trade any players into the club this year or next unless the club is prepared to bring about an immediate end to the cost of living allowance," according to Emma Quayle of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. The Swans are "extremely unhappy with the AFL directive, which also prevents the club from recruiting any restricted or unrestricted free agents" until the end of the '16 season. It means the club will "only be able to replace a player who retires or seeks a trade out of the club with a draft pick or picks." Following discussions last month, the AFL wrote to the Swans last week "confirming the club's recruiting would be restricted to draftees, delisted free agents and promoted rookies." Should the club choose to pursue a restricted or unrestricted free agent, or trade a player in, its Cost Of Living Allowance payments would "cease immediately." Sydney CEO Andrew Ireland said the club had "hoped to change the league's mind, given COLA was put in place by the AFL and the Swans had never had a choice but to pay it." Ireland: "We're not happy about it, we don't understand it and we'll continue to talk to them about it. We think we're being penalized for complying with AFL rules" (SMH, 10/9). In Sydney, Courtney Walsh reported Swans Chair Andrew Pridham "expressed his anger," tweeting, "The Sydney Swans strongly disagree with the ban on trading players. (It is) constructive restraint of trade on players. We are
in discussions with @AFL." Adding to the Swans' confusion is the
fact the "ruling does not apply to Greater Western Sydney" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 10/10).
