AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan has pleaded with the football community to take Lance Franklin’s mental health issue at face value and to give him the appropriate space to recover.

The star forward was ruled out for the rest of Sydney’s 2015 finals campaign, after the club determined the added stress of returning to the field would not aid his recovery from a mental health issue.

However the football world in recent days has been awash with claims Franklin’s absence has been fuelled by other issues — suggestions vehemently denied by Swans chairman Andrew Pridham in the Herald Sun.

McLachlan told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 he had heard similar rumours that, to him, “just wasn’t possible to be true”.

The league’s boss urged the footy world to give Franklin, whose mental illness has not yet been disclosed, some space.

“I feel I have enough information. You don’t know everything — and I’m not trying to sound outraged — other than to say I feel confident enough that this issue is as described,” he said.

Sydney’s Lance Franklin won’t play for the rest of 2015. Source: Getty Images

“Please, give him the space he needs to deal with it, because it’s unbelievably tough.

“I’ve spoken to enough people that have had these challenges and I know of it enough and I’ve spoken to the experts — he just needs to be left alone.”

McLachlan denied he felt helpless in the situation, saying he made enough phone calls to important people that were supporting Franklin.

“My priority is to do everything I can to ensure the player, or broadly, the person of the target of the rumours or innuendos, is OK. I feel as if I’ve spoken to everyone, all the right people around Lance and I feel confident that he’s getting the right help and the right support and he’s feeling supported,” he said.

It was revealed last week that Franklin suffered mild epilepsy attacks, one of which occurred the day before the Round 23 clash against the Gold Coast Suns.

However the Swans confirmed the two issues were not related.