AIHL releases further statement on Perth Thunder points deduction

The AIHL would like to formally clarify the competition points deduction that occurred to the Perth Thunder prior to Week 14.

In short, Perth Thunder were found to be in breach of the Player Points System (PPS) and their reporting obligations required by the AIHL Competition Guidelines.

What is the Player Points System (PPS)?

In Layman’s terms, the PPS functions in a similar method to a Salary Cap.

The PPS is designed to facilitate the free movement of players on and off of AIHL rosters and between AIHL clubs. It's objective is to maintain league parity and to prevent financial monopolisation of the competition by individual clubs.

This system is not unique to the AIHL and similar systems are utilised by other sporting codes and leagues, both domestically and internationally. The AIHL implemented this system as a pilot program in 2023 and adopted it as a full system in 2024.

How does the Player Points System work?

In general terms, clubs are allocated a points total (40 points) which is for use against their Active Player Roster.  

The Active Player Roster (APR) is used to calculate a team’s points total and to ensure compliance against the points system. Essentially, teams must not exceed the points threshold at any given time during the season (unless specific dispensation has been applied for prior to the season).

Players are assigned different points values based on categories (eg juniors, North American imports, Asia-Pacific imports etc) that count against the APR.

Furthermore, clubs are also required to report player movements on and off of the APR, within required reporting timeframes as specified in the AIHL Competition Guidelines in order to comply with the PPS.

On this occasion, the Perth Thunder did not report a total of five (5) player movements within the required timeframe, and as a result the AIHL has deducted a total of three (3) competition points.

A similar incident occurred previously in 2023 with the Sydney Bears.

The AIHL again apologises for any confusion and inconvenience caused regarding this incident.