AFL Victoria has dropped an investigation into an alleged derogatory comment attributed to the president of a major football league towards the breakaway Kyneton Women’s Football Club, citing “a lack of corroborative evidence”.
On December 21, Instagram media page Not All Clubs posted a comment alleged to have been made by Riddell District Football Netball League president Brenton Knott in a private message to a supporter, saying the situation was “not about footy, it’s about grooming and gender weirdness”.
Kyneton Women’s Football Club, now known as the Wedge-Tailed Eagles.Credit: Joe Armao
The comment, which the Riddell league said last month was a “doctored image”, was allegedly sent in response to a post discussing Kyneton’s application to join the Central Victorian Football League.
The purported message followed a long dispute between the Kyneton women’s team and the RDFNL, after the women’s side defected from Kyneton Football Netball Club last year following claims of inequitable treatment and disrespectful conditions.
“You need to look at the other side. They don’t deserve anything – you’re advocating that any team that’s not happy breaks away,” said the alleged message, which was seen by The Age.
“How is that manageable by the AFL? If you look at the principals [sic] in this – it’s not about footy, it’s about grooming and gender weirdness.
“You follow local footy so you need to see AFL Vic and RDFNL aren’t the bad ones here.”
In a statement provided to this masthead, an AFL spokesperson confirmed the complaint was investigated by an AFL Victoria accredited investigation officer and “assessed consistent with the National Community Football Policy Handbook”.
“Due to a lack of corroborative evidence, the allegations are unable to be substantiated and therefore no further action can be taken,” the AFL statement said.
The Riddell league said in a statement published on its website on February 6 that the message was a “falsified, photoshopped and doctored image” and said they would “begin the legal process of proceeding with defamation cases against those parties responsible for publishing these doctored images …”
In response to questions from this masthead on Tuesday a Riddell spokesperson said the league and its president “fully cooperated with the AFL Integrity Review throughout the entire process”.
When asked if Knott had agreed to hand over his phone as part of the investigation, the league said: “The RDFNL President was not asked to supply his phone once there was a lack of cooperation from the other party,” they said in a statement.
When asked if Knott and Riddell would pursue defamation action, the league did not offer a response.
A spokesperson from the Wedge-Tailed Eagles declined to comment “in accordance with our affiliation agreement with AFL Victoria”.
In a separate incident, also last month, Riddell’s vice-president Andrew Power stepped down after The Age sent the league a series of questions about comments Power had left on the Instagram page of the women’s club.
This masthead has seen screenshots of Power’s now-hidden Instagram comments, which include vulgar comments and jokes about being bisexual.
Kyneton Women’s Football Club was accepted into the Central Victorian League after 12 months in limbo and extensive negotiations with the AFL.
They are allowed to play in the Central Victorian League on the proviso they drop “Kyneton” from their name, not use the Kyneton Showgrounds, and compete as the Wedge-Tailed Eagles.
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