Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Sydney Swans chief executive Matthew Pavlich says the club is “not abandoning” the five players who have been hit with season-ending suspensions for a breach of standards.
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.
No one has been arrested and no charges have been laid.
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.
The incident occurred at a Melbourne hotel after Sydney defeated Essendon at the MCG on Sunday.
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.
“We’re not abandoning our players, we’re supporting our players through this really challenging time for them,” Pavlich said.
“Just 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.”
Pavlich was methodical in each of his answers, jumping to reply at just one.
“There’s a lot of mistruths, as well. Can I just be really clear on a couple of things?” Pavlich said.
“All five players have not been formally interviewed by police and no charges have been laid whatsoever.
“There’s a lot of mistruths out there, which we’re trying to manage as best we can. I just want to be clear on that.
“There are issues related to the police matter that we can’t talk about but I just want to make that crystal clear.”
On Tuesday, Pavlich fronted the media for less than a minute, offering a brief statement and not taking any questions.
On Wednesday he answered questions alongside Sydney chairman Andrew Pridham.
Pridham initially noted the impact on the football side – which is sitting second on the ladder with the finals series next month – was not considered by the board when it met on Tuesday night to decide the sanction.
However, he later emphasised the club’s disappointment and concern by pointing out its willingness “to effectively torpedo our season”.
“I think the fact we’ve got to the place we are today and effectively suspended the players for the balance of the season tells you how seriously we’re taking it,” he said.
“Clearly something has gone wrong, they shouldn’t have been in that situation of being out that late.
“The only way we can deal with it is put our foot down incredibly hard, which we’ve done, a very important point to make as a football club that is our business.
“To effectively torpedo our season by making a decision such as this tells you how seriously we’ve taking it.”
Pavlich said he was “a glass half full” on the Swans’ chances before Pridham was asked to clarify his view on the remainder of the season.
“I think as Matthew said, you’ve always got to enter the field of play with expectations,” Pridham said.
“We’ll send our best team out there and we hope they can perform well, let’s see what happens.
“More in the context of that was in the seriousness of how we’ve taken this matter.
“The 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’re not trying to brush anything under the carpet, we’re taking it very seriously.
“Our 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.
“That’s what we’ve done and I’m confident that having taken this action, we will be in a better place going forward as a result.”
