The players at Collingwood have penned a letter apologising for their part in allowing a culture of systemic racism to develop at the club.

It comes in the wake of the Do Better report, which found the club was guilty of systemic racism.

The letter, attributed to “the 150 footballers and netballers of Collingwood”, starts with “sorry” and goes on to say players “feel responsible for these injustices” because they stayed quiet when they should have spoken up.

“As athletes, we are sorry to anyone who, through their association with our club, has been marginalised, hurt or discriminated against due to their race,” the letter, released by the club, reads.

“Through our silence we feel responsible for these injustices. We acknowledge it is not enough to simply show support for principles of anti-racism and inclusion. We will confront the history of our club in order to learn, heal and determine how best to walk forward together.”

The report into the systems in place at the Collingwood Football Club described its history with racism as “distinct and egregious” and said structural change was needed.

“Over the last 72 hours we have had the opportunity to digest the DO BETTER report. We also apologise to those members, fans and community who feel guilt and shame as a result of the systemic racism that has occurred within our organisation,” the letter continues.

“To all the young people who dream about one day pulling on the black and white stripes, we pledge as athletes to continue to help create a club that allows ALL of us to thrive, regardless of race.”

Collingwood said the letter was “endorsed and supported fully by the 120 staff” at the club.

The impetus for the review was the story of former Magpies AFL player Heritier Lumumba and, while there was not an investigation into specific allegations, the review’s authors stressed “nothing in this review can be taken as exonerating the club from any alleged wrongdoing” in the Lumumba case.

The review holds the “clear position” that a “serious investigation” into his claims is deserved, and one in which he needs to take part.

But Lumumba has repeatedly said he does not have faith in the current leadership at the club to handle his concerns properly.

“I’ve been raising my concerns, voicing the countless experiences I have had with Collingwood, for almost eight years now,” he told 7.30 after the report was leaked earlier this week.

“And I saw that there was a complete disconnect between what the club espoused to be and what the club was actually doing. When I raised these concerns with the faith that the concerns would be listened to, I was terribly wrong.

“In fact, I became the problem. I was the one who was painted as being the individual with the issues rather than the club taking ownership and accountability for what the report now reveals.”

Former Geelong and Brisbane player Allen Christensen said he was not entirely surprised by the report’s findings because of club president Eddie McGuire’s public missteps on this front, which Christensen described as “pretty long”.

“He’s done a lot right and a lot for football, but when it comes to culture … there’s this culture that’s been able to manifest at Collingwood,” Christensen told Radio National’s Patricia Karvelas.

“It’s unfortunate. You’d hope football clubs would be a welcoming place, but it doesn’t look Collingwood is for Indigenous and other fellas who are of colour.”

McGuire was pilloried for his initial response after the report was revealed, describing it as “a historic and proud day” for the clubs; something that he later said was “wrong” and he should not have said.



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