Hawks assistant coach ‘BACKED some of the distressing charges’ in Hawthorn racism review where Alastair Clarkson and Chris Fagan were accused of forcing a player to seek an abortion.
Report asserts The senior Hawks coach supported several of the players’ allegations.
If claims are proven, according to legal experts, the squad will be brought before the courts.
Both Chris Fagan and Alastair Clarkson have categorically refuted the allegations.
According to a source, a former assistant coach at Hawthorn confirmed some of the disturbing assertions made in the club’s investigation into its treatment of Indigenous players.
Both coaches have stated that they will cooperate with the AFL’s independent investigation into allegations of racism from their tenure at Hawthorn, which the federal government has called “sickening.”
The racism allegations were reported by the ABC on Wednesday, following an investigation commissioned by Hawthorn earlier in the year.
Fagan and Clarkson were accused of telling a player and his girlfriend to abort their child and separate so the player could concentrate on football, among other accusations made by anonymous former Hawthorn players.
According to a Herald Sun story, an assistant coach provided information to the club’s external review that supported some of the claims made by the First Nations players.
The information the assistant coach supplied to the review does not, according to Daily Mail Australia, prove any of the claims.
A four-person team of investigators, headed by a King’s Counsel, will be appointed by the AFL, and league president Gillon McLachlan is optimistic that the panel will be established before this weekend’s championship game.
Legal professionals predict that if the claims are found to be accurate, Hawthorn will be brought before the courts.
Litigation on several fronts will follow, there’s no question of that – not only the direct participants but their family members,’ veteran player agent Peter Jess – who has launched legal action against the AFL previously – told The Age.
‘In my opinion, the fact that there’s been no action, no pathways for them to seek safe harbour to have this dealt with properly, is the biggest failing inside the AFL.’
Clarkson and Fagan have both categorically denied any wrongdoing during their time with the club, when the Hawks won four premierships.
‘I intend to defend myself,’ Fagan said in his statement on Thursday.
‘It is my hope that people will judge me based upon the way I actually conduct myself and not by what is written in the media.
‘I intend to participate fully in the investigation and look forward to being heard and being accorded due process and fairness.’
Clarkson’s November 1 start in his new coaching role with North Melbourne has been delayed due to the AFL’s investigation, and Fagan has stood down as head coach of the Brisbane Lions in light of the allegations.