Cousins out of the family
By staff writers
October 18, 2007 THERE is no place for Ben Cousins to play AFL football, AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou told Fox Sports News.
Speaking from Paris, Demetriou said the disgraced premiership footballer and Brownlow medal winner is no longer a registered AFL player after being sacked by his West Coast club last night.
"At the end of the day, there is no place for Ben Cousins playing in the AFL competition," Demetriou told Fox Sports News.
"He has got to go away and get himself healthy, which we want him to do and im sure most people would want him to do. and we've got to get on with managing the competition," he said.
"The club, the AFL, all the medical officers have done their very best to try and help a young man get back to full health. Unfortunately it hasn't been successful.
"And from our situation and our position, we've got an obligation to our stakeholders and to the game to uphold the spirit of the game," Demetriou said.
The former West Coast captain's arrest and subsequent court appearance to face a drug possession charge was the final straw.
West Coast chief executive Trevor Nisbett last night confirmed there was no chance Cousins would play for the Eagles again following his latest misdemeanour.
But Cousins would continue to be offered support to overcome his issues and return to "full health" according to the AFL boss.
"He'll continue to get support I'm sure from the Eagles and from the AFL system and from our medical officers. So there's a lot of issues for the Eagles to work through, and obviously a lot of issues for us to work through."