The 25-year-old pleaded guilty to assault at the Corowa Local Court on March 27 for an incident in Mulwala that left a man in hospital with a severe head injury.
He is due to face sentencing on April 22, with the maximum sanction for the charge five years imprisonment.
Balta served a four-game suspension imposed by the AFL at the end of 2024 and is now available for selection, with the AFL community bitterly divided over whether he should be eligible to continue working between now and his potential incarceration.
Richmond's plan was reportedly to reintroduce Balta to competitive football via the VFL, but the league has a week off this weekend because of the annual SANFL-VFL state game due to be played in Adelaide during Gather Round, whilst Richmond's VFL side has no scheduled practice game.
That means the Tigers will this week be forced to make a decision about whether to select Balta upon the completion of his on-field suspension or effectively stand him down.
Outgoing AFL Players Association chief Paul Marsh, who is moving to lead the Australian Cricketers Association, supports Balta's immediate return to football.
"There's been a disciplinary process there. Noah has served that out, so he has a right to play this week. I don't know whether he will," Marsh said on Tuesday.
"I think playing footy can be a nice distraction, being in a club where they're actually working with him day-to-day is also really positive.
"He's gone through a process where he's been suspended, so I think it's appropriate that that's the suspension.
"He's got a criminal process that he's going through, and there'll be a determination made at the end of that. But there has been a football process, and that's the result of it."
Richmond supporter Matthew Cronin, whose son Pat was killed in a one-punch assault outside a nightclub in 2016, has pled for his club to "set a benchmark of what is acceptable" and extend Balta's suspension by another two weeks.
"He’s brought Richmond into disrepute, they’ve got some amazing young talent at the club. What message does it send to them? If I put my Christian hat on, I think, at what point can we forgive?" Cronin said on 3AW radio.
“But for me, the punishment doesn’t seem to fit the crime at the moment."
Balta's coach Adem Yze signalled last week that he "can’t wait to allow him to get back out on the footy field", whilst AFL CEO Andrew Dillon said he was "comfortable" with the length and timing of the punishment handed to Balta on December 30.