ONLY one man at the AFL – broadcasting and legal manager Simon Lethlean – is allowed to see sensitive documents relating to Docklands stadium's contract with Etihad after a Victorian Supreme Court decision on Thursday morning.

In June 2009, the League won the right to see documents relating to the naming rights deal with Etihad and other contracts with beverage suppliers as part of an on-going legal stoush with Stadium Operations Limited (SOL), the operator of Docklands.

The parties returned to court this week to argue about what parts of those documents should be kept confidential.

SOL was also keen to restrict the number of people at the AFL who could see the documents and ensure the information wasn't used for any other commercial purposes.

On Thursday morning, Chief Justice of the Victorian Supreme Court, Marilyn Warren laid down a confidentiality regime which sought to balance the competing interests.

Justice Warren ordered SOL to produce the contracts for the AFL to inspect next Monday but ruled that details relating to amounts paid and any formulae should be excluded.

Justice Warren also ruled that the only AFL staffer who could see the documents would be Lethlean, and ordered that the League not use the documents for any other purpose than forming an opinion on the current legal action.

The AFL's external lawyers can also see the documents.

This latest development is merely another step in the early stages of the League's law suit against Stadium Operations Limited over alleged breaches of the user agreement the parties signed in 1997, three years before the stadium opened.

Once the League examines the documents, it hopes it will be in a better position to decide its next step in the legal action.

On Thursday morning, SOL chief executive Ian Collins said the stadium owners were open to proposals to amend the user agreement, so long as amendments offered “a reasonable exchange of value".