The AFL will not invite five Sydney Swans players suspended by their club to this year’s Brownlow medal ceremony, as the league holds fire on opening its own inquiry into the actions of the quintet until a police investigation into an alleged sexual assault last week at a Melbourne hotel has been completed.
Players stood down for rest of season
The AFL’s chief executive, Andrew Dillon, faced the media on Monday for the first time since Isaac Heeney, Nick Blakey, Chad Warner, Riley Bice and James Jordon were stood down for the rest of the AFL season by the Swans for breaching the club’s standards, including drinking and bringing women back to their hotel.
Victoria police are separately continuing to investigate an alleged sexual assault early on Monday morning at the Pullman Hotel, where the Swans were staying after beating Essendon at the MCG last Sunday. No one has been arrested or charged and the five players have reportedly denied any criminal wrongdoing.
AFL delays inquiry until police probe ends
Dillon said the AFL “cannot get in the way of a police investigation”.
“There’s a police investigation going on now,” Dillon said at the launch of this year’s AFL finals on Monday. “Once that’s complete, we’ll conduct our own inquiries. But the AFL won’t get involved while there’s a police investigation under way.
“The Swans have spoken to the players. They’ve shared that information with the AFL and they’ve made the calls, but they’ve also been really clear that what they spoke to the players about was separate from the police investigation.”
Brownlow attendance and eligibility
The Brownlow medal ceremony is to be held on the Monday before the grand final, but given the players are under a club suspension until the end of the season, they will not be permitted to attend. They are, however, still eligible to win the award.
Dillon began his speech at the launch with a strongly worded statement that expanded on an email sent out by the AFL last Tuesday, which had to that point been the league’s only public communication on the matter.
“I have been asked a lot in recent days, what message football should be sending young people and what we should be saying to our kids,” Dillon said.
“For me, the answer is straightforward – it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what you do, whether you’re an AFL footballer – the way we treat women says a lot about who we are as people, as a community and as a game. Quite simply, respect for women is not negotiable.”
Asked if the AFL had dragged its feet on publicly commenting on the matter, Dillon said: “The Swans have handled the matter publicly and this was an appropriate time for us to speak.”
Finals series aims to reunite community
Dillon’s appearance came after Sunday’s AFL-AFLW double-header at the SCG, which saw a number of fans walk out before the men’s game began, but he expressed hope the upcoming finals series, which includes a wildcard round for the first time, would help reunite a fractured AFL community.
“What we saw yesterday is how football is the place where people can come together,” Dillon said. “And I think we’ll see that during the final series. Really serious matter being investigated by the police. But I think the finals and footy is a way that people can come together.
“The actions of a few don’t take away from the thousands of people involved in football at all different levels who do great things all the time. But what we do know is that we can do things better. And we’ll continue to do that and we’ll continue to learn and be better.”
