ADELAIDE has been accused of deliberately deceiving the AFL by promising Kurt Tippett $200,000 outside of his contract and suggesting it be kept secret from the League.
The Crows and Tippett are under a League investigation which now also includes allegations of salary cap cheating.
The Age reported on Thursday night that the AFL was investigating a letter sent by then-Crows football manager John Reid to Tippett's manager Peter Blucher, which refers to payments not included in the contract Tippett signed in 2009.
The letter clearly advised Blucher not to make the AFL privy to such arrangements, according to the report.
If AFL investigations officer Ken Wood finds there was wrongdoing when Adelaide re-signed Tippett in 2009, the ramifications are massive for the club, player and his management.
Time is rapidly running out for the Crows to strike a trade deal involving the key forward.
Tippett's intended move to the Sydney Swans is up in the air because the key forward could face suspension or a fine or be deregistered and forced into the draft.
With the Gillette AFL trade period ending at 2pm on Friday, it is increasingly likely that the Crows could lose Tippett for nothing through the draft. However, that is the least of their worries.
The Tippett saga has mutated from a massive headache to a potentially devastating blow for the Crows.
Earlier on Thursday, Crows chief executive Stephen Trigg pulled out of a major address at a South Australian event, as pressure mounts on the club over the saga.
A day earlier, Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman declined to guarantee Trigg's future at the club as the chief executive.
Tippett's father has confirmed he is cooperating with the investigation.
"We've done everything that's been asked of us, yes," Tony Tippett told AFL.com.au.
There had been speculation for months about the key forward's future once his contract with Adelaide expired at the end of this season.
Adelaide officials had repeatedly denied the existence of a special clause in Tippett's contract, struck when he re-signed in 2009.
That contract made him the Crows' highest-paid player.
But it has now emerged there was an arrangement, outside the contract, where the Crows would allegedly trade Tippett to a club of his choice for a second-round draft pick.
That arrangement is at the centre of the League's investigation into draft tampering.
Now the League is apparently looking into whether the secret deal involved a salary cap breach as well.
If found guilty of breaking strict salary cap rules, Adelaide would most likely suffer a fine and the loss of draft picks and they have said they will accept the AFL's verdict.
There is no timeframe for Wood to complete his investigation, which has implications for Adelaide, Tippett and Tippett's management company, Velocity Sports.
Originally, the speculation was that if the Queensland-born player left the Crows, he would return to his home state and play for Brisbane or Gold Coast.
The Swans' bold four-year bid for Tippett reportedly shocked the Crows.
With the Swans deal in limbo, the ongoing investigation has now given rival clubs even more pause to negotiate with the Crows over Tippett.
Gold Coast has not ruled out resuming its pursuit of Tippett.
Suns football manager Marcus Ashcroft said on Thursday that if Tippett did become available as a result of the AFL's investigation, the Suns would re-evaluate whether to chase him.
