It’s been more than five months since the Brownlow Medal.
It’s also been more than three months since former AFL field umpire Michael Pell was arrested – on November 14 – in the wake of suspicious Brownlow betting activity.
Pell, 32, was arrested by detectives from the Victoria Police Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit for allegedly sharing information on which players would receive votes in specific matches last year, including matches he was involved in.
Pell was interviewed for more than five hours after his arrest over suspicions he engaged in conduct that corrupts or would corrupt a betting outcome.
Others were quizzed in relation to the offence of using corrupt conduct information for betting purposes.
But 15 weeks on no charges have been laid.
It’s understood that detectives were convinced upon seizing Pell’s phone and relevant communication devices that a “smoking gun” would be found in group messages, notes or voice messages.
But that was not the case.
Initially, the Sporting Integrity Intelligence Unit believed this to be a corruption case – one of influencing the votes with umpires straight after games – but that was quickly dismissed as fantasy.
Umpires interviewed by police have denied Pell was guilty of any improper conduct, with police instead pursuing the sharing of information avenue.
In something of a test case, the accusation isn’t that Pell influenced or fixed the outcome of a sporting event, but rather passed on information he had insider knowledge of.
It is also known that the bets by individuals at the centre of the investigation are accompanied by other bets by those same individuals that saw no return. The AFL was said to be caught off-guard and surprised by Pell’s arrest, with sources now claiming there are some at AFL House growing concerned over the case and its direction.
Pell resigned from the AFL umpiring ranks late last year.