WITH just hours of the Gillette AFL Trade Period remaining, Kurt Tippett is increasingly likely to be left in football limbo when Friday's 2pm deadline ticks by.

After playing 104 games for Adelaide since debuting in round one, 2008, Tippett announced he wanted a trade to this year's premiers, the Sydney Swans, earlier this month.

However, this week's explosive revelations of a side deal made by Tippett and the Crows when he re-signed with Adelaide in 2009 has not only made Tippett's trade to the Swans unlikely, but also exposed the Crows, Tippett and his manager, Peter Blucher, to an AFL investigation into possible draft and salary cap violations.

The Crows had been ready to send Tippett to the Swans in exchange for pick No. 23 and fringe Swans forward Jesse White last Friday, but got cold feet.

It was then that Crows CEO Steven Trigg disclosed the Tippett side deal to the AFL.

The deal stated that the Crows would trade Tippett to the club of his choice for a second-round pick at the end of his playing contract, an arrangement that might constitute draft tampering.

The deal also reportedly guaranteed Tippett $200,000 outside the playing contract lodged by Adelaide with the AFL, to be paid to him by third-party companies or the Crows.

If Tippett is not traded on Friday, he will most likely nominate for November's NAB AFL Draft or December's pre-season draft, when last year's two lowest finishers, GWS and Gold Coast, have indicated they could consider selecting him.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL