THE AFL has handed down a $20,000 fine to GWS Giants after their club general manager of football, Jason McCartney, delivered a spray to the umpires on Friday night in Canberra.

McCartney was charged with approaching the umpires in the first Manuka Oval clash of the season that the Giants lost by 39 points to the Western Bulldogs.

But when the result was on the line and hosts were down by just nine points at half-time the man known as one of the nicest in the AFL broke one of the game’s cardinal rules.

The heated clash with the umpires has created a furore over the past four days before the AFL tribunal handed down its penalty on Tuesday (March 27) after he questioned a lopsided free-kick count that allegedly finished with McCartney swearing back at the officials.

McCartney has, in the light of the day, accepted the sanction in relation to breaking Rule 15.2.

“I unreservedly apologise and accept responsibility for my actions on Friday night,” he said in an official club statement.

“Umpires play a vital role at all levels of our game and those of us fortunate enough to work at the elite level must set an example in the way we show respect towards those officiating our game.”