AFL premiership star Cyril Rioli has lodged a statement of claim in the Federal Court against his former team, Hawthorn, alleging he and other First Nations players and their wives endured racism during their time at the club.
The claim was lodged on behalf of Rioli, his wife, Shannyn AhSam-Rioli, and two other former players, Carl Peterson and Jermaine Miller-Lewis, his wife Montanah, and the club’s former Aboriginal Liaison Officer, Leon Egan.
The ABC understands the group will be alleging breaches of the Racial Discrimination Act by the Hawthorn Football Club.
Hawthorn Football Club president Andy Gowers said the club would continue to “work towards a resolution in a fair and timely manner for all parties”.
“The Federal Court process will importantly give Hawthorn Football Club the opportunity to respond to these allegations.”
“Given the matter is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate to make any kind of comment that could impact on that process.”
Asked about the Federal Court action, current Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell, who as a player shared four premierships with Cyril Rioli, said: “What I hope happens is everyone feels heard and that we can get to the end of this process with a bit more clarity than we have now.”
The court action comes after mediation between the group and the club at the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) broke down earlier this year.
The mediation was arranged to address historic allegations of systemic mistreatment at Hawthorn of First Nations players at the club — as reported by the ABC in the 2022 grand final week.
Those allegations were laid out in an internal cultural safety review commissioned by Hawthorn, which considered allegations against former coach Alistair Clarkson, assistant coach and football manager Chris Fagan and the club’s welfare manager, Jason Burt.
