Adelaide assistant coach Ben Hart has been suspended for six weeks by the AFL for breaking COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and running a group training session with 16 of the club's players.
Despite an AFL investigation finding the Crows' breach at the Barossa Golf Course was "not done to create a competitive advantage," Hart will be banned from the club's facilities until June 22.
The 16 players who were involved in the session all received a suspended one-game sanction. It means should any of these players be suspended at any point in 2020, an additional game would be tacked on.
"The AFL protocols, which were communicated to AFL clubs, CEOs, Football Managers, Coaches and Football department staff, make it very clear that players are not to be training in groups of more than two people," a statement from the AFL read. "The protocols have been developed to not only protect the players and staff but also the wider community.
"The investigation found the players had been compliant with the protocols for the majority of a two-hour training session where they had worked in pairs before separating into two larger groups of eight - one group to complete an 8-minute kicking drill, one group to complete an 8-minute running drill in pairs, before swapping. The kicking drill was supervised by assistant coach Ben Hart which is where the breach occurred."
The 16 players are: Kyle Hartigan, William Hamill, Ayce Taylor, Ben Davis, Lachlan Sholl, Jordon Butts, Lachlan Gollant, Ronin O'Connor, Ben Keays, Fischer McAsey, Joshua Worrell, William Frampton, Tom Doedee, Elliott Himmelberg, Myles Poholke and Lachlan Murphy.