Field umpire Nick Foot, who officiated last year's grand final, will feature as an analyst on an online racing show run by Sportsbet, which is a major partner of the AFL.
When asked about the look of an umpire working for a betting company, Dillon insisted the league was "comfortable" with how Foot managed his two roles, given his other job was in horse racing, not football.
"Nick Foot is one of our best umpires, grand final umpire last year," he said.
"Our umpires are incredibly professional, elite decision makers. But they also, the majority of them, have work outside of the umpiring.
"Nick's worked in and around the racing industry for a number of years. We've worked very closely with him on how that plays out, and his extension of the role now.
"There's no crossover with his umpiring. It's very clearly a racing role, and we're comfortable with that.
"But we'll continue to work with Nick on that."
Dillon was asked whether he was comfortable with Foot's role given a police investigation into suspicious betting activity in the 2022 Brownlow medal, regarding the leaking of voting outcomes in some specific matches, was still ongoing.
Former field umpire Michael Pell was among four men arrested late in 2022 over alleged suspicious betting activity and was later sacked by the AFL.
But Dillon was adamant the two situations couldn't be compared.
"They're two completely different things," he said.
"So as I said, Nick's been working in the racing industry for a number of years.
"The other matter is outstanding but I don't think there's really a crossover and there's not a crossover with what Nick's doing in his employment outside of umpiring and his umpiring."
Dillon indicated Foot's new role had been run past him and other key figures at the AFL.
"Nick's been working in and around the racing industry for a number of years, and I've been aware of that, as has the heads of football in the past, and the heads of umpiring," he said.
Dillon also made it clear there would be no changes to the Brownlow voting system, such as giving umpires access to statistics.
"No, I think the umpires do an incredible job all round," he said.
"It's a big thing that we ask of them with the Brownlow but I think the Brownlow's tried and tested, and we've got no plans to change that."
23°C