Police are investigating an alleged sexual assault involving Sydney Swans players at the Pullman East Melbourne on Monday morning, with the club considering standing them down.
Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Riley Bice were questioned by police over the alleged assault.
A manager for a fifth player denied his client had spoken to police.
The Herald Sun is not suggesting any of these players are under investigation or implicated in any wrongdoing, only that they have been quizzed by investigators.
The group of five were believed to be driving a rental car home to Sydney on Monday night.
After the Herald Sun exclusively revealed the bombshell allegations on Monday morning, a club spokesperson said: “The Sydney Swans can confirm several players were involved in an alleged incident in Melbourne last night.
“The Swans have notified the AFL and relevant authorities and cannot provide further comment at this stage.”
Witnesses told the Herald Sun two women approached hotel staff about 7am and demanded to be let back into one of the guest rooms.
She was overheard telling staff she had been “touched” and felt overwhelmed as she was surrounded by multiple men in the room.
One of the women was described as “hysterical” and “upset” and at one point ran into the hotel toilets crying before police were called.
A witness said the two women were seen “agitated” in the hotel lobby and began remonstrating with club officials, including coach Dean Cox, in the foyer after they were told they could not return to the room.
Club staff were overheard telling the women they were not aware of any alleged incident, before a third woman arrived at the hotel to help her friends.
Another source described hearing one of the women tell hotel staff: “We have everything recorded of what (the) AFL players did to our friend in that room.”
Speaking to the media outside Swans HQ during a snap 20-second press conference, chief executive officer Matthew Pavlich said: “We are extremely shocked and disappointed that this has taken place and that the players have found themselves in this situation.”
He would not respond to questions of whether any arrests had been made.
“We can confirm that several players were involved in an alleged incident last night in Melbourne,” he said.
“We’ve identified this to the AFL. We are working with them, and also the relevant authorities on this matter.
“We’re still piecing together exactly what’s transpired here and have our own set of internal inquiries ongoing.
“We understand the level of interest in the matter, and there’s going be lots of speculation, but given it’s a police matter and right now, that is all that we can say.”
Amid concerns that the police investigation could run for weeks – or even months – sources close to the incident said the players allegedly involved could be stood down until the case concluded.
Police were on Monday morning seen swarming through the lobby and accessing hotel rooms amid the claims at the Wellington Pde venue in the wake of the allegations on Monday morning.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said: “Police are investigating a report of a sexual assault in East Melbourne on 17 August.
“The incident occurred at a hotel on Wellington Parade in the early hours of the morning.
“The exact circumstances are yet to be established and the investigation into the incident remains ongoing.”
The Swans were staying at the hotel after beating Essendon at the MCG on Sunday afternoon.
As many as eight plain clothes and uniform police, carrying clipboards and camera equipment, were seen moving around the venue, with several more guarding the staircase leading to the main entrance.
There were also several marked and unmarked police cars parked outside.
Detectives could be seen leaving the hotel just before 1pm on Monday afternoon with evidence bags.
Social media has been inundated with speculation around what had happened, with people making unsubstantiated claims in WhatsApp chats that some Swans players had bought cocaine and hired sex workers and/or strippers.
One wild theory even suggested that a Sydney player had thrown a sex toy at the back of a woman’s head “and she fell forward and knocked her teeth out” but sources close to the club rubbished that claim.
The AFL said it was aware of the alleged incident and its inquiries were “ongoing”.
The incident threatens to rock Sydney’s premiership tilt on the eve of finals.
The Swans sit in second spot on the ladder after an outstanding season winning 17 of their 22 matches.
The club will host North Melbourne at the SCG on Sunday in their final home and away game of the season.
But the police investigation hangs a significant cloud over the club heading into finals.
Round 24 betting markets were paused in the wake of the allegations.
Do you know more? Contact jay.clark@news.com.au