The Western Bulldogs drought-breaking premiership in 2016 continues to be shrouded in controversy following fresh news ex-umpire Troy Pannell is on the run from the law.

Pannell is thought to be in South Australia after failing to appear in court over allegations he is behind an $8.7 million fraud scheme.

Pannell famously officiated a game in 2016 where he awarded 17 free kicks to the Western Bulldogs while only giving one to the Adelaide Crows.

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The Dogs narrowly won the Round 7 game and the loss arguably cost the Crows a spot in the top four and a double chance that year (they finished fifth but were on the same points as fourth-placed GWS and had a better percentage than third-placed Hawthorn).

Adelaide great Mark Ricciuto now wants the AFL to investigate.

“Adelaide ended up losing the game by 15 points, if you can believe it,” Ricciuto said on Triple M.

“The Bulldogs won the flag that year. If the Bulldogs had not have won that game, they probably would have finished eighth, probably wouldn’t have even advanced.

“Adelaide would have finished third on the ladder instead of fifth. We would have had a double chance ... It might have cost us a flag.”

The Bulldogs finished seventh that year and went on a famous run to win the silverware. They played Sydney in the grand final but that game also ended up in controversy due to the umpiring and several free kicks that went against (or were not paid to) the Swans.

After the game, Sydney were livid. The AFL would later say that the umpiring fell short of the standard expected at that level.

Some of the most contentious calls or non calls included a fourth quarter incident where acting Dogs captain Easton Wood slid into Dan Hannebery’s legs (that resulted in a medial ligament injury to Hannebery but no free kick).

There was also another incident where Toby McLean took out Sydney star Kieren Jack’s legs but the free kick surprisingly went to McLean.

There was also a holding-the-ball decision against Sydney’s Dane Rampe in the third quarter that the AFL admitted was wrong. That free kick led to another Bulldogs free kick that resulted in a Bulldogs goal.

The slick handball work from Bulldogs’ players was also, at times, questionable.

Pannell, who is involved in the horse racing industry, was a whistleblower in 291 AFL games from 2005 to 2018. He was not involved in the 2016 grand final.

He grew up in Victoria’s western suburbs and played at junior level for local team Hoppers Crossing. He cut his teeth as an umpire in the Footscray and District league (now Western Region League). It is thought he supported the Bulldogs as a child.

“I would think now that maybe it might be worthy of it (investigation), not for that (Adelaide) game but just in general because he was involved in some horse racing,” Ricciuto said.

After the Crows-Bulldogs game in 2016, AFL’s general manager of football Mark Evans (now at Gold Coast) defended Pannell.

“The free kick count was a heavily skewed count, not that it has to be equal. But certainly every time you see something like that you look for what are the errors,” Evans said.

“You look at missed free kicks and you look at the incorrect free kicks that were paid. Some of those certainly favoured the Bulldogs.”

Pannell made light of it.

“For me, I tend to laugh about it a little bit. It makes it a little bit easier,” he said.

“People blow up photos and put them on your desk. You really need to laugh it off.

“I review my own performance first and put that in, then they (the umpires’ department) review it and send me through my feedback and we discuss things.

“Once I’ve watched the game back and done my own self-assessment, I generally know if there’s one or two things I can take out of it that I could have done better.”

Pannell allegedly defrauded shipping company SeaRoad Shipping $8.7 million over a decade, while working out of the Port of Melbourne, according to the Herald Sun.

The scheme allegedly involved Pannell generating invoices to pay a company named Independent Container Surveyors & Assessors (ICSA) to repair damaged shipping containers. Each “repair” cost SeaRoad $800 to $900.

It is alleged Pannell had authority to approve purchase orders up to the value of $5000, and it was only when a finance manager noticed ICSA was not registered for GST that suspicions were raised.

SeaRoad alleges ICSA did no work to repair any containers and never checked the work had been done as it trusted Pannell to follow the proper processes of the company.

“SeaRoad is satisfied you have committed serious misconduct. You have been the sole shareholder and director of ICSA from 2010 to date. We find your response that you did not know you held these positions to be fanciful,” a letter from SeaRoad to Pannell, tendered in the civil court case, read.