If Paul Roos had to fly down from Sydney to Melbourne to defend a jocular, flippant remark that was misinterpreted as an attempt to throw a game - a NAB Cup game at that - then the AFL will have to launch a Royal Commission into the Carlton football club.
Former Blues assistant coach Tony Liberatore rocked the football world on Thursday night when he told The Footy Show that he was all but convinced his former employer deliberately lost matches to ensure it was in a strong position for the trade period and the national draft.
Thanks to the considerable bargaining power it garnered from finishing the season with four wins, Carlton went on to trade picks three, 20 and Josh Kennedy (who was picked up with selection four in 2005) to snare the best player in the land, Chris Judd, and use its prized number one pick in November to acquire the services to superstar-in-the-making Matthew Kreuzer.
Liberatore's allegations came as no surprise to the football public and only confirmed what the majority suspected.
However, if Roos was treated so harshly by the league over a glorified practice match then how will Andrew Demetriou approach the Blues following the 1990 Brownlow Medallist's sensational claims?
In complete contrast to what Sydney was playing for against Hawthorn a month ago, premiership points were on the line, punters' money was certainly on the line (a cornerstone of the AFL's argument against Roos) and - more importantly - the game's integrity was on the line when Carlton allegedly put the cue in the rack for the second half of the 2007 season.
After being 4-7 at the midway point of last season, and showing some promising signs with consecutive wins over the Bulldogs and eventual grand finalist Port Adelaide, Carlton went on to lose its last 11 matches of the season.
And, really, who could blame them?
The Blues had endured the worst six-year period in its history and, if Liberatore's comments reflect what was going on at Princes Park last season, sadly, the Carlton hierarchy was acting in its club's best interests.
Although Liberatore said he didn't believe former coach Denis Pagan would ever go out to lose a game, the cynics would say that Andrew Walker, Marc Murphy, Kennedy and Bryce Gibbs all made their way over to Royal Parade in the same manner that Judd and Kreuzer allegedly did.
If the AFL does pursue the matter - and it should as this is a former member of a football department making a serious allegation, not a coach playfully ribbing one of his charges about his ordinary accuracy in front of goal - then it may look even sillier than it has in recent times when it has dismissed any suggestion that 'tanking' exists.
The league created a rod for its own back by facilitating a situation which gives massive incentives to clubs whose seasons are shot well before round 22 to stay in the nether regions of the ladder in order to collect high draft picks and strengthen their positions at the trading table in October.
To suggest that 'tanking' doesn't occur is fanciful. A team hasn't finished a season with a tally of six victories since 1999 and, until 2006, five wins or less would see a club receive a coveted priority pick.
The AFL has to stop shirking the issue and address it immediately otherwise we'll all be faced with the prospect of a virtual 12-team competition in the second half of the season for years to come.