The AFL hardened its stance on the controversy at Hawthorn surrounding board member Don Scott and former coach Ken Judge.

League chief executive Wayne Jackson was criticised in the media for saying over the weekend it was up to the Hawks to resolve the matter.

But the league later issued a media release, saying it would heavily punish clubs, players and officials who tried to "tank" a match.

Judge alleged two days ago that Scott asked him to lose matches.

Scott remained unavailable for comment and the Hawks were not commenting further on the issue.

Judge said Scott approached him near the end of the 1998 season and asked him to lose the last five matches so the club would receive draft concessions.

But the Hawks won all those games.

The controversy was the last thing the club needed, with the Hawks in crisis after losing four of their last five games.

There is growing anger among fans as the season goes off the rails and no match committee staff or players were commenting as the club tries to weather the media scrutiny.

Jackson said in the AFL statement that the league wanted to "clarify" its position on Judge's claims.

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