The players involved in the Sydney Swans alleged sexual assault probe have broken their silence in a bombshell statement on Wednesday evening.<\/p>\n
In a joint statement, Isaac Heeney Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, James Jordon and Chad Warner said they \u201caccept the club sanction and apologise for the impact this has had on those involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are deeply sorry to everyone involved. We know that our behaviour has fallen well short of the standards expected of us and the values of our club,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we have let down our partners and families, members, supporters, teammates, the AFLW team, corporate partners and everyone at the club and the wider community.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur focus will now be on rebuilding trust with the club and the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group said their actions had \u201cfallen well short of the standards expected of us and the values of our club\u201d.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Sydney Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich said the club is \u201cnot abandoning\u201d the five players who have been hit with season-ending suspensions for a breach of standards.<\/p>\n
Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner are embroiled in a Victoria Police investigation after claims of an alleged sexual incident in the early hours of Monday.<\/p>\n
No one has been arrested and no charges have been laid. <\/p>\n
The Herald Sun reports the players allegedly taken \u201cexotic dancers\u201d up to the room for \u201clap dances\u201d, before a commotion erupted. <\/p>\n
Pavlich said the players had been punished for staying out late, drinking and inviting women back to the hotel rather than because of the police investigation, which was separate.<\/p>\n
The incident occurred at a Melbourne hotel after Sydney defeated Essendon at the MCG on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The players are ineligible for senior selection but Pavlich said they would be allowed back into the club when asked if they were allowed to take part in training.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not abandoning our players, we\u2019re supporting our players through this really challenging time for them,\u201d Pavlich said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust to be clear, they will not be considered for AFL selection for the remainder of the season including finals but they will be allowed back at the football club.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pavlich was methodical in each of his answers, jumping to reply at just one.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of mistruths, as well. Can I just be really clear on a couple of things?\u201d Pavlich said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll five players have not been formally interviewed by police and no charges have been laid whatsoever.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of mistruths out there, which we\u2019re trying to manage as best we can. I just want to be clear on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are issues related to the police matter that we can\u2019t talk about but I just want to make that crystal clear.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Pavlich fronted the media for less than a minute, offering a brief statement and not taking any questions.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday he answered questions alongside Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham.<\/p>\n
Pridham initially noted the impact on the football side \u2013 which is sitting second on the ladder with the finals series next month \u2013 was not considered by the board when it met on Tuesday night to decide the sanction.<\/p>\n
However, he later emphasised the club\u2019s disappointment and concern by pointing out its willingness \u201cto effectively torpedo our season\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think the fact we\u2019ve got to the place we are today and effectively suspended the players for the balance of the season tells you how seriously we\u2019re taking it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly something has gone wrong, they shouldn\u2019t have been in that situation of being out that late.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way we can deal with it is put our foot down incredibly hard, which we\u2019ve done, a very important point to make as a football club that is our business.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo effectively torpedo our season by making a decision such as this tells you how seriously we\u2019ve taking it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pavlich said he was \u201ca glass half full\u201d on the Swans\u2019 chances before Pridham was asked to clarify his view on the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think as Matthew said, you\u2019ve always got to enter the field of play with expectations,\u201d Pridham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll send our best team out there and we hope they can perform well, let\u2019s see what happens.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore in the context of that was in the seriousness of how we\u2019ve taken this matter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that we are willing, five of our absolute best players, to remove their availability for the rest of the season I hope demonstrates that we\u2019re not trying to brush anything under the carpet, we\u2019re taking it very seriously.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur standards have been the cornerstone of our culture over many, many years, is that when people do step aside our expected standards, we do act swiftly and decisively.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019ve done and I\u2019m confident that having taken this action, we will be in a better place going forward as a result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read related topics:Melbourne<\/a>Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The players involved in the Sydney Swans alleged sexual assault probe have broken their silence in a 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