An AFL letter to the club said Barnes had ""interfered with play and acted contrary to his sole duty as runner when he stood five metres from Jason Johnson on the centre wing and directed him to kick the ball to Damien Peverill.""
On top of the suspension of Barnes, the AFL imposed a suspended sanction of $5000 on the Essendon Football Club, automatically payable should any further breach of the rules occur in the next 12 months.
Essendon Football Operations manager Dominic Cato said the club accepted the ruling of the AFL. ""We would obviously prefer to have two runners in the next two games but we accept that John contravened the regulations on one occasion,"" Cato said.
""It is important to note the other seven allegations made against him were not sustained. As John has previously breached the rules, the suspension was not unexpected.
""There has been plenty of media scrutiny and commentary surrounding the amount of time that John has spent on the ground. It is also important to note that this suspension in no way relates to the length of time he spent on the ground.""
