Swans Players Set to Miss Home and AFL Disciplinary Action Amid Ongoing Investigation
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Cox said they would speak to players “as the day unfolds”. The five players are unlikely to play this week regardless of the police investigation, as the Swans consider potential sanctions for late-night drinking at the team hotel, which is funded by the AFL, after a match.
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The Guardian SportSydney Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich, coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills spoke to reporters in the 24 hours after police began investigating an alleged sexual assault at the Pullman Hotel on Monday.
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Cox arrived at Swans HQ at about 6.47am on Wednesday, where he told reporters “the club will make a statement”, when asked if there would be some kind of resolution today.
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The group of five players, who had remained in Melbourne on Monday behind the rest of the team as it travelled back to Sydney, attended separate meetings with senior club and team officials away from Swans headquarters after driving home to NSW.
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Police attended the hotel on Monday after receiving a report of an alleged sexual assault.
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AFL CEO Andrew Dillon who had hitherto been silent on the scandal on Tuesday night released a statement that foreshadowed strong action.
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The Swans were forced to remain in Melbourne on Sunday night because Sydney Airport’s curfew prevented the team from returning home following its convincing win over Essendon at the MCG.
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No player has been arrested and the AFL’s disciplinary action does not make any finding in relation to the allegation that remains under investigation by detectives from Victoria Police’s Sexual Crimes Squad.
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This masthead is not suggesting any of the players are under investigation by police, just that they are assisting with inquiries.
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The players are now facing the prospect of missing not only Sydney’s final home-and-away match against North Melbourne on Sunday, but at least part of the Swans’ finals campaign.
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Instead, the AFL and the club have been examining the conduct of the players before and around the alleged incident, and whether their behaviour fell sufficiently below the standards expected of AFL footballers to warrant sanction under the league’s broad disrepute provisions.
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The mechanic was pioneered in Australia by the NRL in 2019. That code applies a strict stand down policy in cases where a player is charged with a crime punishable by 11 years or more in jail, as well as a discretionary power in cases of violence against women.
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SMH SportIn this area, it could learn a lesson from the NRL. In 2019, after a run of sex scandals, the NRL introduced a no-fault stand-down policy for players charged with criminal offences that could attract a jail term of 11 years.
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This masthead has contacted the representatives of Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice, James Jordon, Chad Warner and one other player after two senior industry sources said they were spoken to by police after an allegation of sexual assault in the early hours of Monday morning.
2 details only one outlet reported
Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 SMH Sport Collingwood will bring back veterans Jeremy Howe and Steele Sidebottom for Friday night’s clash with Brisbane, but coach Craig McRae remains guarded over whether the club will rest tired players ahead of their looming sudden-death wildcard final.
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02 The Guardian Sport None of the three said much – likely on legal advice – but none felt compelled to even share a thought about the woman or women whose experiences prompted them to go to police.
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