Richmond midfielder Dustin Martin will have to pay a suspended $2000 sanction for making a gesture to the crowd during last Saturday's game against Collingwood.

The AFL football operations department decided after receiving a written explanation from Martin that they would impose the $2000 fine, suspended for two years, after he made the 'handcuffs' gesture during the 2013 elimination final.

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick said on Thursday he warned the players to not engage with the crowd in the future after Martin's gesture was directed towards Collingwood supporters behind the goals at the city end of the MCG.

"We just want to control what we can control within the white lines. We didn't like it," Hardwick said on Thursday. 

"We like our players to celebrate goals with their teammates, we like our players to just worry about what's happening within the white lines.

"That was just the conversation we had. It's not something we're overly rapt with, but we understand these things happen."  

The Match Review Panel referred Martin's case back to the football operations department and the decision was announced on Thursday.