Former Collingwood star Heritier Lumumba says he and ex-teammates Leon Davis and Andrew Krakouer have informed the Magpies they’re cutting all communications with the club.
Lumumba, who played 199 games with Collingwood from 2005 to 2014 has been outspoken in his criticism of the club since finishing his stint there in 2015. He has on many occasions publicly detailed counts of racism he endured during his time at the club.
The accusations he made of systemic racism at Collingwood were vindicated by the ‘Do Better’ report that rocked the club and prompted the resignation of long-time president Eddie McGuire in 2021.
In a new twist to the ongoing racism saga that has stained Collingwood’s image, he says the club hasn’t changed in the 15 months since the report called for reform.
“After 15 months of dialogue to address past incidents of racism at the Collingwood Football Club, Leon Davis, Andrew Krakouer and I have formally notified the club that we are officially terminating all communications with CFC,” Lumumba tweeted on Wednesday morning.
https://twitter.com/iamlumumba/status/1514011366306115588
“Nothing has changed. It is our firm belief that the Collingwood Football Club has no intention of acting in good faith to achieve a just outcome for past players who have experienced racism at the club.”
The former premiership-winner first spoke about his treatment at the club in 2017.
At that time, he revealed in a documentary that he was nicknamed “Chimp” by his teammates and club, while also criticising Collingwood for failing to deal with issues of racism.
Lumumba’s latest response comes at a difficult time for the AFL after racism in the game was brought back into the spotlight when former Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli spoke out about his final years in the game.
Rioli, who in 2018 shocked the AFL by retiring at 28, spoke out in a recent interview about how he and his wife had been treated differently during their time at Hawthorn partly due to their race.
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