AFL CHAIR Craig Drummond has apologised for mistakes made in the Jake Kolodjashnij affair, which Drummond was involved in during his previous role as Geelong president.

In 2024, Geelong struck an agreement with Kolodjashnij, who took on legal responsibility for the effects of any potential future brain trauma in a bid to exonerate the club and its medical staff from court action down the line.

>> READ CRAIG DRUMMOND'S FULL STATEMENT BELOW

The concussion case emerged on Thursday via a News Corp report and the AFL and AFLPA released a joint statement that night, saying the Cats would remove the waiver from the agreement with the player. The League did not hand down any punishment at the time but has since issued a 'please explain' notice to the Cats.

Drummond, who took over as AFL Chair earlier this year, had oversight in the Kolodjashnij situation given he was president of the Cats at the time.

On Saturday, Drummond released a statement in which he conceded the waiver went "too far" and he apologised for "the mistakes made in this very complex situation".

He added he is not involved in the AFL's current deliberations about the matter. 

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon will address the situation later today.

More to come ...

Full statement from Craig Drummond

I was President of the Geelong Football Club in 2024.

This was an extremely complex and sensitive matter, and obligations to both the player and the Club were very carefully considered by the Geelong board.

Jake's welfare was central to all discussions and I have been thinking of him particularly over the past few days.

While the player was medically cleared to play, the Club engaged in lengthy discussions including with him, his family, doctors, and insurers about his future and the potential risks of returning to play.

Regardless of the player's agreement, the Club went too far in adding a waiver into an informed consent document and it will be removed.

The waiver did not remove the player's protections under statutory health and safety laws.

As the Club has also acknowledged, there was also a process failure in relation to lodgement of the agreement with the AFL and the AFLPA.

I have not and will not be involved in any deliberation in relation to this matter and its assessment under the AFL rules and regulations.

I apologise for the mistakes made in this very complex situation.