The wife of suspended Essendon coach James Hird says AFL chief Andrew Demetriou has known all along that her husband is being paid during his 12-month ban.

Hird’s punishment was part of the club’s penalties – which included a $2 million fine and being banned from this year’s finals – for its controversial 2012 supplements program.

On Wednesday, Tania Hird told News Corp that her husband agreed to a sanction with pay in lieu of taking the AFL to court.

“Of course he’s being paid, that was the deal,” Mrs Hird said.

“Andrew Demetriou knew it, the AFL knew it.”

Her comments contradict Demetriou’s statement last week that Hird was not being remunerated by the AFL or Essendon.

Mrs Hird also accused the AFL of “threatening” her husband and the Bombers and wants the governing body to “stop distorting the truth”.