James Hird holds line on pay deal James Hird at his Toorak home.. JAMES Hird is standing firm on his pay, increasing pressure on the AFL to state its position on the stalemate. It is understood that Hird will not accept any changes to his contract, which Essendon can only alter with his ­agreement. One suggestion for Hird to be paid off the books has been dismissed by some as ­ludicrous. The impasse is a major ­issue for AFL chief Andrew Demetriou, who on Wednesday declared that Hird - ­under his sanctions for his role in the Essendon supplements scandal - was banned from receiving his club salary while serving a 12-month suspension. "If there is one thing I will go to my grave on, I know 100 per cent the AFL is not paying and I know that Essendon is not paying," Demetriou said five days ago. James Hird at home. After the Herald Sun revealed Hird was actually still receiving his $1 million salary, the AFL acknowledged there was nothing in the AFL ­Commission's deed of settlement stipulating he could not be paid. The AFL later argued that Essendon had given a verbal guarantee in September - two weeks after the sanctions were imposed - not to pay Hird, though this has also been ­disputed. Demetriou raised the pay issue in his response to Herald Sun revelations that Hird had been presented with a series of inducements, including a guaranteed salary during his suspension, amid secret negotiations between Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie and Bombers chairman Paul Little. Neither the AFL nor ­Essendon would comment on Sunday.