Eddie McGuire has announced he will stand down as president of Collingwood Football Club.
Key points:
- Eddie McGuire said his comments about the Do Better report had become a lightning rod for criticism
- He said he did not want to prove a distraction to the players in the upcoming season
- McGuire said the club’s work in the community, including its programs with at-risk Indigenous people, showed it was not racist
McGuire’s position had come under severe scrutiny after his response to an internal report into racism at the club, and an open letter had circulated in recent days calling for his head.
Fronting a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, McGuire announced he would resign from the role he had held for more than 22 years.
“I try my best and I don’t always get it right, but I don’t stop trying,” he said.
“Today, effective immediately, I step down from the presidency of the Collingwood Football Club.
“From the moment I became the president of the Collingwood Football Club on my 34th birthday back in 1998, my sole motivation was to heal, unite, inspire and drive a new social conscience, not just into this club, but sport and the community in general and build an organisation that would be a place for opportunity for all people.”
McGuire highlighted some of the philanthropic work the club had carried out and infrastructure improvements that had been made during his tenure.
A tearful McGuire also addressed how he had become a “lightning rod” for criticism after calling the leaking of the Do Better report, which found systemic racism in Collingwood, a “proud and historic day” for the club.
“People have latched on to my opening line last week and as a result I have become a lightning rod for vitriol, but [I] have placed the club in a position where it is hard to move forward with our plans,” he said.
He said the club’s work with at-risk Indigenous people, as well as its many other social projects, showed Collingwood was not a racist club.
“It is why I’m so proud of our club and the people every day of every week who benefit and who are inspired by the very purpose of the being of Collingwood — and that is to be a beacon of hope for all people, particularly those at their lowest ebb or who have been socially isolated and left behind,” he said.
“It has been since 1892.
“I remind people that our recent review, inspired by Black Lives Matter, that part of a six-year journey of our reconciliation action plan was to look to what we need to do in the next 10 years, not the last.”
McGuire said he did not want his presence to be a distraction for the players ahead of the upcoming season.
“When I came to Collingwood, it was a club driven with rivalries, enemies and division,” he said.
“It has not been the case in my time, so I do not want any of this to cause rancour or factions.
“It is better to fast-track my leaving of the club from the end of the year to now.”
McGuire said he was leaving Collingwood in a better place than when he arrived.
“The club can build to a new future with an enormously strong pace,” he said.
“The implementation of the Do Better Report will indeed make us better.
“Our finances and plans are well underway and with a bit of luck we might have silverware in the cupboard by the end of the year.”
Reaction to McGuire’s resignation
AFL Commission chairman Richard Goyder said Mr McGuire had made an “enormous contribution” to Collingwood and Australian rules football, and left the club in a better shape than when he started.
“Eddie’s actions today showed his commitment to put the Collingwood Football Club first and to ensure the focus for the club was on moving to implement the 18 recommendations of the Do Better report,” he said.
Toby Hemingway, president of the supporters’ group Collingwood Fans Care which led the calls for Mr McGuire to resign, said it was an important step for the club.
“We certainly recognise that Ed going is just one step and now there’s a lot of work to be done and the first step is a wholehearted acknowledgement of the pattern of racism, not just incidents, but the pattern,” he said.
Tony Armstrong, a former Collingwood player and ABC commentator, said Mr McGuire’s resignation could have wider ramifications in sport and society.
“We are seeing, I guess in this case, systemic racism being taken as seriously as I think we have ever been taken, in the public sphere,” he said.
“To the point where someone we would have thought was completely untouchable three months ago, I reckon, now has had his hand forced and been forced to step down.
“I think we will see that trickle through into other verticals be that politics, business or sport. But I think we will see it trickle out into other spheres.”
Former Collingwood player Dayne Beams said Mr McGuire should be remembered for all the “amazing work” he had “done for the club and football in general”.
“For those that have no idea who he is, quit with the negativity and your witch hunt, this bloke is a genuinely good person,” he said.
“Also my time at the Collingwood Football Club I never felt once that I was involved in a racist club.”
