Collingwood president Jeff Browne has vehemently disputed that the Magpies are a racist club, stating that “we’re backing Craig Kelly in” in the wake of severe claims against the CEO.
Following crisis conversations with Collingwood board members, including vice-president Jodie Sizer on Wednesday, Browne told media that the club will support Kelly.
It followed a Herald Sun investigation that detailed charges of highly abusive racial slurs directed toward Indigenous athletes and staff, as well as a Jewish colleague.
Browne asked people to wait for court processes to conclude before passing judgment on Kelly’s character.
Mark Cleaver, former Collingwood head of First Nations strategy, detailed the allegations against Kelly in documents filed in federal court.
“I’d ask you to just wait to see the outcome of the proceedings before you finally make a judgement on that,” Browne told reporters.
“We’re with Craig Kelly on this, and we intend to fight these procedures until they reach a conclusion.
“I’m not prepared to compromise the proceedings by paying any amount of money to make it go away.”
Browne stated that Collingwood had made progress on racial issues and denied that the club was culturally unsafe following the execution of the 2021 ‘Do Better’ report.
“Now, racism and discrimination is a fight that goes on day by day, it never ends, it’s something we’re very conscious of here,” he went on.
“However, the culture in this place has significantly improved as a result of implementing the Do Better report’s recommendations.
“It’s a culture where people feel safe, people of diverse backgrounds feel safe, and they feel safe to make complaints if they choose, and they will be dealt with according to the whistleblower policy.”
The Magpies president reiterated that Mr Cleaver’s dismissal was due to occurrences unrelated to his allegations.
He refused to say whether Kelly made the comments mentioned by Mr Cleaver in the court documents, but insisted the CEO had not broken any laws.
“You’ll need to ask him what he said.” From my experience, he’s doing an excellent job as the CEO of this football club; he has the board’s and my complete support,” Browne added.
“I don’t believe he is the type of person who would mistreat anyone else. He’s a fantastic leader; he adores his employees and his football club, and the latter has made tremendous progress since he took over as CEO.
“Any chats I’ve had with him will remain between him and me. You will see our answer to the allegations when we file our defence and as the proceedings progress.”
