AFL Backs Former Hawthorn Player Chris Langford To Sit On Commission

The Australian Football League will not ask former Hawthorn player Chris Langford "to sit out of the commission's hearing of Sydney's appeal against the league's controversial trade restrictions despite a perceived conflict of interest," according to Andrew Wu of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. While it is "not uncommon for former players to sit on the AFL commission," Langford has two sons, Will and Lachlan, on the Hawks' list. The Hawks, back-to-back premiers, "stand to gain should the commission not reverse its position on the issue" as it would deny the Swans, "one of their major rivals, a mechanism to strengthen their list." Former Sydney premiership player and board member Jason Ball is "also a member of the nine-person commission, however he does not have a son on a current list." The league on Wednesday night said it had "full faith in Langford." An AFL spokesperson said, "The commissioners act at all times with the greater interests of the game at the core of their decision making" (SMH, 8/26).