Collingwood Magpies respond to racism claims by former employee against CEO Craig Kelly

Collingwood will defend themselves against serious allegations of racism filed in court as it revealed the former employee making the claims took the matter to the police.

The AFL has been urged to strip the Magpies of premiership points should explosive claims be proven.

The club, including chief executive Craig Kelly, are facing damning allegations filed on Monday in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

Mark Cleaver, Collingwood’s former head of First Nations strategy, is the sole applicant in the documents, while the Magpies are the only respondent.

In the documents, Mr Cleaver alleges he was told by Mr Kelly he did not “give a f*** if you put a live f***ing possum” in a proposed cultural room and he just wanted club president Jeff Browne and vice-president Jodie Sizer “off my arse” before forcefully throwing a marngrook (a ball used by Indigenous peoples in Victoria made of possum hair) at him.

Collingwood said they were committed to a “welcoming, safe and inclusive” workplace.

Cleaver first raised the matter in March, with the club then looking into the concerns.“In addition to the internal process which took place, an external expert was engaged to review the findings. Both processes found no breach of workplace law,” the Pies’ statement read.“Following the conclusion of both processes, the former staff member made further allegations to Victoria Police, which examined them and determined not to take any further action.“The former staff member was employed by Collingwood for a period of six months.

“The employment ended for reasons unrelated to their concerns.

“Following their departure, the former staff member lodged an application with the Fair Work Commission but the matter was not resolved.“While it is unfortunate this situation has not been resolved, the club believes that it has acted lawfully and intends to defend the matter.”

Mr Cleaver also alleges Mr Kelly called Indigenous elder Aunty Carol Thorpe a “dumb old b...h” after leaving a meeting where she had corrected him after he said he cared “about our Indigenous people”.

Among other allegations are that Mr Kelly told Mr Cleaver he “assumes your people can navigate with their eyes closed” when he used Google Maps during a car trip and that he joked about sending a photo of a ‘Free Palestine’ sign to a Jewish colleague.

Cleaver’s legal representative said the allegations called into question whether Collingwood had “learned anything from its multiple self-inflicted racism scandals.

“We are entitled to expect more from a club that has promised to do better,” Daniel Victory, principal with Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, said

“The conduct alleged in this case has no place in society or any sporting club and especially not in a league that holds itself out as an agent for social change.

“Football fans have a right to feel let down once again by the Collingwood Football Club.

“The AFL should consider penalising premiership points from clubs if allegations like this are proven.”

AFL spokesperson Jay Allen said the league’s integrity unit was aware of a human resources workplace complaint by a Collingwood employee.

“The matter was deemed a workplace issue for the club and was triaged to the club’s HR department to manage accordingly,” Allen told AAP.

In 2021, the Magpies commissioned an independent review to deal with racism.

Former president Eddie McGuire labelled the release of the ‘Do Better’ report “a historic and proud day”.

A week after his highly criticised comments, McGuire stood down following more than 20 years in charge.

Collingwood premiership player Heritier Lumumba was in dispute with his former club for years over racism issues, consistently voicing his disapproval of management at the Magpies.

Lumumba first raised the alarm on concerns of racism at the club in 2013, with his claims the catalyst for the investigation and subsequent ‘Do Better’ report.