Updated ,first published
The Sydney Swans have declared they believe a group of players โare in serious breach of expected club behaviour and standardsโ as the clubโs board meets on Tuesday night to decide on punishments over their conduct in Melbourne on late Sunday night into early Monday morning.
The development comes after AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon suggested the players could also face AFL sanctions irrespective of the outcome of an ongoing police investigation into a sexual assault allegation.
โThe Sydney Swans can confirm that the club board will meet tonight to agree on player sanctions and penalties, now that the club has concluded its interviews with all the players involved in the incident in Melbourne,โ the Swans said in a statement.
โWe respect there is an ongoing investigation by Victoria Police and any actions we take are independent of this.โ
The Swans said it was appropriate โto take firm actionโ and highlight that any sanction they take as a club relates โsolelyโ to clubโs standards of expected behaviour.
โThe club believes the players are in serious breach of expected club behaviour and standards, and it is appropriate to take firm action and highlight that any sanction we impose relates solely to those breaches,โ the Swansโ statement read.
โThe club also acknowledges that these serious allegations impact others and their wellbeing must be paramount.
โThe Sydney Swans condemn all forms of abuse and disrespectful behaviour towards women. Any conduct that causes offence or harm to others is unacceptable and falls well short of our expectations. All women deserve to be respected and feel safe.โ
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.
The meetings were to discuss the events of Sunday night and Monday morning, which led to a police investigation into an allegation of sexual assault at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel. The investigation is being handled by Victoria Policeโs sexual crimes squad.
โThe conduct and serious allegations regarding Sydney Swans players are deeply concerning,โ Dillon said in a league statement.
โThe woman who made the report to police is entitled to privacy and care, and that should be respected,โ he said.
โNotwithstanding the ongoing police investigation, the AFL and the Sydney Swans will consider the broader conduct of the players as more information comes to light.โ
This masthead has contacted the representatives of Isaac Heeney, Riley Bice, James Jordon and Chad Warner 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.
This masthead is not suggesting any of the players are under investigation by police, just that they are assisting with inquiries.
This masthead also contacted a representative of Swan Nick Blakey, who denied Blakey was involved in the incident. But the representative confirmed Blakey had also remained in Melbourne with his four teammates.
Earlier on Tuesday, two senior competition sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the players would be dealt with under the AFL rule that covers bringing the game into disrepute and conduct unbecoming.
However, late on Tuesday the league said that rule would not immediately be applied.
The players had been out drinking after Sunday nightโs win over Essendon and returned to the team hotel in the early hours of Monday.
The AFL has the power to suspend them under rule 2.3A, which prohibits conduct unbecoming or likely to prejudice the interests or reputation of the league.
Any immediate club or league action would be separate to the Victoria Police investigation.
A source close to the group of Swans players, but not authorised to speak publicly, said the players had been fully co-operative with the police probe.
They said all five had been prepared to speak with police on Monday, but only one was ultimately quizzed.
Police told the group they were not ready to conduct a formal interview or speak with any of the players acting as witnesses.
The source said leading Melbourne criminal lawyer Tony Hargreaves was called in to assist the group before they were told they were free to leave and return to Sydney.
No player has been arrested and the AFLโs disciplinary action does not make any finding in relation to the allegation that remains under investigation by police.
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 leagueโs broad disrepute provisions.
One of the most recent examples of an AFL suspension under this rule was for then Bulldog Bailey Smith, who was found guilty of conduct unbecoming and suspended for two matches in 2022.
Smith admitted to using an illicit substance late in 2021.
This masthead contacted all 36 of the Swansโ corporate partners. None were willing to comment on the incident, and so far, there is no indication any of the clubโs sponsors will be walking away.
However, a spokesperson for Origin expressed disappointment. โThe club informed us about this incident yesterday, and we are incredibly disappointed. While the matter is subject to an investigation, it is not appropriate for us to comment any further,โ the spokesperson said.
The Swans players are now facing the prospect of missing not only Sydneyโs final home-and-away match against North Melbourne on Sunday, but at least part of the Swansโ finals campaign.
Sydney have already secured second position on the ladder and a home qualifying final. Any multi-game suspension would carry significant consequences for the clubโs premiership aspirations.
The Swans were forced to remain in Melbourne on Sunday night because Sydney Airportโs curfew prevented the team from returning home following its convincing win over Essendon at the MCG.
Several players subsequently went out drinking before returning to the Pullman, where the team and its staff were staying.
Police attended the hotel on Monday after receiving the report of an alleged sexual assault.
Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specialising in AFL and athletics.Connect via X or email.
Jake Niall is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X or email.
Sam McClure is an award-winning AFL journalist and broadcaster.Connect via X or email.
Kishor Napier-Raman is a senior business writer for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age. Previously he worked as a CBD columnist and reporter in the federal parliamentary press gallery.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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