AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has dismissed the notion that the league has a systemic problem with gambling.
Speaking the day after a betting scandal involving Western Bulldogs player Lachie Hunter and an unnamed VFL player erupted, McLachlan refused to discuss specifics of the case under investigation by the AFL integrity unit.
While he said there was no excuse for any AFL player not to know that they can't bet on games, he also called for calm as the investigation into a bet placed on a Bulldogs game via Hunter's account - reported to be made without his knowledge - was carried out.
"On the information we have now the concept of something broader, systemic or a plunge or anything like that is actually not factually accurate," McLachlan said on Friday.
"It involves an isolated one-off transaction that had a couple of legs to it and on the information we have it's nothing more systemic or broader than that.
"We need this investigation to finish and understand exactly what happened before everyone jumps to conclusions."
McLachlan said the AFL had put in place numerous gambling education programs and had made it clear to players that betting on AFL games would not be tolerated, with any breach of those guidelines attracting serious sanctions.
Bulldogs president Peter Gordon played down the seriousness of the alleged breach on ABC Radio on Friday, characterising the incident as "young men having a bet on a Saturday afternoon and something erroneous may have occurred".
McLachlan added weight to that assertion when he said that young players making simple mistakes needed to be treated in that context.
He said the league would continue to seek to educate its players on the wider issue of gambling.
"I think the growth in wagering in Australian culture is self-evident," McLachlan said.
"I don't think our players are immune from that and our job is to make sure that they make grown-up decisions in the best informed and educated way that they can."
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