Collingwood is set to launch an investigation into one of the explosive new claims made by Heritier Lumumba that an assistant coach showed players a pornographic image in a team meeting during his time at the club.
According to veteran AFL reporter Caroline Wilson, Collingwood CEO Mark Anderson has confirmed that he is investigating the specific claim made by Lumumba regarding the pornographic image as well as his other claims detailed in a Herald Sun report.
“Although no one involved is at the club anymore, they believe they need to get to the bottom of this,” Wilson told Nine’s Footy Classified.
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“There is a fear and a suspicion that it may be true. Who would make that stuff up? How much would Lumumba hate the club that he would make that up? It doesn’t feel made up to me.
“I can’t find anyone at Collingwood today, who was there at the time, who is saying to me that this did not happen. No one is confirming that it did happen, but all the people I’ve spoken to just said they had no recollection of it.
“Just horrified to think that this is going on in the last decade, absolutely horrifying to me.”
With the club currently without a media manager, Wilson revealed that Collingwood has hired Elizabeth Lukin, who was Essendon’s head of PR at the start of the supplements scandal in 2013, in order to “troubleshoot the issue”.
According to Wilson, the AFL is not currently investigating the matter.
While Nathan Buckley, who was Collingwood’s coach at the time, has not confirmed Lumumba’s allegations, Wilson said his comments should not stop an investigation from both the club and the AFL itself.
“I understand Nathan’s point, he may have absolutely no idea about these allegations about the pornographic image, but Collingwood need to investigate this,” she said.
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“Collingwood needs to address this and so do the AFL. If that is still going on in the last decade in a competition that has introduced AFLW around that time … it is just so shocking to me.
“Football needs to make peace with its past.”