Hawthorn president Andy Gowers said the club would be “extremely disappointed” if it was to be fined by the AFL in the wake of the racism saga.
On Tuesday night, chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the AFL had reached an agreement with the families involved in allegations of historical racism at Hawthorn with no adverse findings against Alastair Clarkson, Chris Fagan and Jason Burt.
But while the league itself had found no wrongdoings by the trio, the club is far from out of the woods.
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The AFL may still charge the Hawks, likely under the “catch-all” rule of bringing the game into disrepute.
Gowers said the club had welcomed the AFL’s decision, but acknowledged the investigation had been “extremely difficult for everyone involved”.
“We’d be extremely disappointed if this matter led to sanctions including financial … we went into this process with the best of intentions,” Gowers said.
The families are also set to take the matter to the Australian Human Rights Commission. Gowers said he would welcome the opportunity.
Speaking on Nine’s Today on Wednesday morning, reporter Tony Jones said the AFL still had the club “in the gun”, and the coaching trio may also look at their own legal avenues against the club, given they were never interviewed during the initial investigation.
“(The AFL announcement) is by no means a full stop to the investigation, in fact the situation is probably more diabolical than when it was first leaked eight months ago,” Jones said.
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“You still have First Nations families who feel aggrieved, even though they’ve accepted no charges will be laid and they’ve said we’re more than happy for that action be not taken.
“You have the three coaches and the welfare officer at Hawthorn who’ve put through the ringer publicly. They were never interviewed as part of that Hawthorn investigation, and therein lies the problem for Hawthorn.
“The AFL is saying they could be in breach for bringing the game into disrepute. Now that’s a very broad rule, but when you start talking about fines, being potentially stripped of draft picks, et cetera, that becomes serious.”
Gowers said should the families take the matter further, he would “welcome” the opportunity for the club to speak.
“What we would love to happen … is an opportunity for the families, and our staff, and our coaches to have an opportunity to be listened to, to be heard, and that hopefully would provide an opportunity for healing.”
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