The former chief executive of the Parramatta Eels rugby league club has been handed a two-year good behaviour bond for his role in the club's salary cap scandal.
Scott Seward, 41, pleaded guilty in May to dishonestly obtaining a financial advantage by deception, and also admitted to publishing false or misleading material to obtain advantage.
In sentencing Mr Seward in the Downing Centre Local Court, Deputy Chief Magistrate Christopher O'Brien acknowledged Mr Seward did not implement the scheme to make off-the-books payments to players and managers, saying it was clear he "inherited a diabolical mess".
He accepted Mr Seward's account the Parramatta Eels board told him to fix the problem of finding the money to make third-party payments or they would find someone who would.
"There was a degree of desperation and coercion at the time these offences were committed," Mr O'Brien said.
"The offender was, as the CEO of Parramatta Eels, completely out of his depth and plainly unsupported by his board of directors.
"He is entitled to feel significantly let down by his board of directors."
Mr O'Brien praised Mr Seward for coming forward to the NRL and for assisting police with their investigation.
"Taking this step took considerable courage for which he should be commended," he said.
No conviction was recorded.
Outside the court, Mr Seward said: "I'm just glad it's all over and we can all move on.
"It justifies coming forward and doing the right thing."
Seward's lawyer John Sutton said any harsher punishment than a bond would have been "a deterrent to whistleblowers".
He said his client had lost his job and he and his family had suffered "psychological trauma".
"He is unlikely to be able to recover in an employment sense to the position he was at," Mr Sutton said.
"There's been stunning falls from grace and all because he had the honesty and integrity to put himself forward and tell the truth about the matters that have gone on."
'Conscience got the better of him': lawyer
Mr Seward was chief executive of the Eels between September 2013 and June 2015, during which time the club was accused of systematically cheating the NRL salary cap by way of third-party payments.
An investigation revealed the club had hidden payments and issued inflated invoices from suppliers to raise cash that was then paid to players.
During a sentencing hearing last week, Mr Sutton told the court when his client took over the Parramatta club's top job, he inherited a considerable amounts of debt and was put under great pressure to pay it.
He said his client's conscience "eventually got the better of him" so he resigned from the club, then alerted the NRL's integrity unit and police about the salary cap breach.
"He couldn't live with the fact that he's been engaged in this conduct and he brought the matter to police attention," Mr Sutton told the court.
"If he kept his mouth shut, if he had not brought it to the attention of authorities it would not have been known."
Mr Sutton said the former CEO never made any money from the hidden payments and inflated invoices.
"There was never at any stage any benefit to my client, [the money] all went to players or player managers."
