Former Wallabies lock John Langford is among a three-man disciplinary panel overseeing a messy players union test case against controversial agent Greg Keenan which is tipped to end up in the courts.

Daggers are drawn as Keenan is being investigated by the Rugby Union Players Association after high-profile Wallabies Matt Giteau and Drew Mitchell lodged a formal complaint against their former player manager.

Keenan is accused of accepting secret commissions to entice the pair to the Western Force in 2006 and is now in danger of becoming the first manager struck of RUPA's accredited agents list.

If he is found to have breached RUPA's 24-point code of conduct Keenan will be prevented from acting on behalf of any professional rugby player in Australia.

Keenan has returned fire against Giteau and Mitchell as well as RUPA chief executive Tony Dempsey with potentially damaging results.

The agent, who was the last to sign the RUPA accreditation after challenging it in 2005, claims the Force duo owe him $1.25 million.

Keenan has also accused Dempsey of accepting secret payments from players allegedly encouraged to sign with Keenan's management company, which Dempsey previously owned.

Dempsey, who has strongly denied the allegations which he slammed as an attempt to deflect attention from questionable conduct, remains on annual leave and is not due back to work until Monday, while Mitchell and Giteau were also unavailable for comment.

Linked to the vacant Force CEO's role, West Australian officials admitted the controversy has not helped Dempsey, also a practising solicitor, if he had designs on the job.

Langford, who played four Tests for Australia in the mid-1990s and was also a Brumbies pioneer player, will hear the complaint as part of RUPA's agent accreditation board, also including Warwick McDonald and Brahm Dabsche.

A date is yet to be set for the matter, but another player manager tipped the stand-off to become a legal matter.

It's understood Giteau and Mitchell have employed a lawyer to protect their interests as the Force distanced themselves from the claims by stating the matter was the players' own "private business dealings".

The accredited agent, who did not want to be named, said there was a legal case the players could pursue against Keenan, who also acted for Wendell Sailor, through legislation relating to agents.

"It does surprise me they are going through RUPA when they could have sought a more formal process," he told AAP.

"I suppose they are trying to ruin (Keenan's) accreditation and bring pressure to bear and maybe get their money back."

But Dempsey also needed to take extra care in not being seen as having conflicts of interest, according to the player manager.

"Tony's got a job to do but he needs to be careful too because at times he's acting for players and he's acting as a lawyer and he's also head of RUPA," he said.

"So he's in a difficult position a lot of the time but he's a lawyer so he should know what he can or can't do."

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