Who is the Match Review Officer and how do incidents reach them?

The 2026 Match Review Officer (MRO) is Michael Christian, with Josh Attwood as Secretary.

Incidents reach the MRO two ways:

• Reports: a Notice of Report lodged by an officiating umpire for the match.
• Referrals: lodged by the officiating umpires, Umpire Observers, the National Head of Umpiring, the AFL Executive General Manager Football, an authorised club representative, or the MRO himself after reviewing video of all matches.

The MRO reviews reports and referrals, analyses video of all potential Reportable Offences, and charges a player when satisfied a Reportable Offence occurred. With the Executive General Manager Football he decides the type of offence (Classifiable, Direct Tribunal or Fixed Financial), grades Classifiable Offences, refers serious ones to the Tribunal, tells the player's club the charge and sanction, and gives reasons when a report or referral does not lead to a charge.

Source: 2026 AFL Tribunal Guidelines, sections 2.1 and 2.2.