Football manufacturer Sherrin have asked the AFL to have the balls kicked in prior to the start of matches.
Eddie McGuire revealed on Channel 9's Footy Classified that the AFL intend to adopt a similar model to the NBA.
“Sherrin have come to the AFL and said they want their balls kicked in for at least 20 minutes," he said.
“They are not designed now to be able to just go out and bounce the ball.
“In the NBA in America, the ball gets bounced for half an hour before the match, that is a standard procedure."
McGuire also said the umpires were over-inflating the balls in order to bounce them, and that alterations to the surface of the ball had been rejected.
“Because of the shine, the umpires are inflating the balls too much, so they’re too hard as well because the umpires can’t bounce the ball unless they’re really hard," he said.
“They did look at putting rubber dimples on it to help but the coaches said that would stop the long kick because of the aerodynamics, so they’ve nixed that.
“There is an issue with it, and they’re addressing it which is great that everyone is admitting where it is."
A couple of weeks ago Eddie said the ball was to blame for the poor skills, but now it's been confirmed that there is a problem with the Sherrin.#9FootyClassified | Watch @channel9 pic.twitter.com/JdVdRheFr9
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) July 8, 2020