Carlton players Marc Murphy and Jeremy Laidler apologised to the AFL on Friday after the injured pair’s outbursts fuelled fans’ anger over umpiring decisions.
AFL chief Andrew Demetriou says they are likely to face fines for their statements on Twitter after Carlton’s loss to West Coast on Thursday night.
“I understand (AFL general manager of football operations) Adrian Anderson is preparing a ‘please explain’ letter to both of those gentlemen,” Demetriou told reporters on Friday.
“Everyone knows commenting on umpires, whether it’s through Facebook, Twitter, email, press conference, over a radio interview is unacceptable.
“There’s zero tolerance about that.”
Murphy tweeted: “Ruined a good game those blokes.”
Laidler added: “Are you not meant to try and b 1st in at the footy anymore. If u do u will be pinned for holding the ball. SHOCKING”.
The Blues released a statement late on Friday afternoon saying both players agreed their comments were unfortunate.
“I was certainly frustrated and confused by how the rule was being applied, as were the commentators,” Laidler said.
“However it was not meant to be derogatory of the umpire.”
Laidler and Murphy stressed they had great respect for umpires.
“I understand my tweet could have been interpreted as criticism towards umpires and, in hindsight, should have considered the wording more,” Murphy said.
Demetriou said the AFL found it extremely difficult to recruit umpires.
“We will not accept any criticism of umpires and everyone knows that,” he said.
“Our players know that and they’ve been told about social media and its pitfalls.
“Adrian will deal with it. There’s really no excuse to be talking about umpires.
“Normally in these situations, there would be a financial sanction.”
Fans have raged on Twitter that the AFL is stifling freedom of speech by banning players’ comments on umpires.
But Demetriou said he didn’t buy the argument.
“Freedom of speech has to come with some responsibility,” Demetriou said.
“If we were all allowed to say everything we wanted to say, we’d be in a bit of strife, particularly me.”