Cam Ellis-Yolmen launches $200,000 legal fight against Brisbane after being forced from the game for refusing Covid-19 vaccination

Former Brisbane and Adelaide player Cam Ellis-Yolmen has launched a $200,000 legal fight over his forced exit from the game for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Cam Ellis-Yolmen has launched a $200,000 legal fight over his forced exit from the AFL. Picture: Adam Head

Retired Brisbane Lions midfielder Cam Ellis-Yolmen has launched a $200,000 legal fight over his forced exit from the game for refusing to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

Ellis-Yolmen was sidelined in January last year after his bid for a vaccine exemption on medical and cultural grounds was rejected by the AFL.

“I got a medical exemption for everything else in Australia, but unfortunately, I couldn’t get it for playing footy, which is ridiculous and in hindsight didn’t make sense,” Ellis-Yolmen said this week.

“I got pushed out of the game and that was it. Not many people reached out to me. I felt alienated and pretty alone when the AFL promotes such an inclusive, team-first mentality.”

Lawyers for the former Adelaide Crow and Lion allege he was pressured into signing a form that gave Brisbane the right to pay him just $88,043 of his $294,500 playing contract for 2022.

Ellis-Yolmen, who is Indigenous, claims he signed the letter “under duress” after receiving a strongly-worded legal letter from AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon.

Cam Ellis-Yolmen has launched a $200,000 legal fight over his forced exit from the AFL. Picture: Adam Head

His bid to continue playing footy for the Labrador Tigers in the QAFL was blocked by the league because of his refusal to sign the Form 43 deed of release.

He is seeking immediate payment of the outstanding $206,457 he says he is owed by the Lions for the 2022 season or will commence court proceedings.

Ellis-Yolmen told the league his “genuine concerns about the effects of the vaccines” was “borne out of a previous adverse reaction to the influenza vaccine administered by his old club” – Adelaide.

He had a history of “serious bronchial issues in childhood”, shared a “distrust” of the Australian government and medical institutions “felt by members of the indigenous communities” and was not provided with any personal counselling by the club in relation to his concerns about the covid vaccination, his lawyer, Greg Griffin, alleges.

Western Bulldogs defender Liam Jones was also forced out of the game in 2022 after refusing to be vaccinated when listed at Carlton.

Ellis-Yolmen played 48 games for the Crows and Lions between 2014 and 2021. Picture: Tara Croser

A Brisbane Lions spokesman said the club was aware of the Ellis-Yolmen claim but declined to comment.

Ellis-Yolmen, 30, played 48 games for the Crows and Lions between 2014-2021.

“I’d love to still be playing. I definitely still feel like I could be playing at the top level,” he said.

“But I put my own health first. I didn’t think I needed a vaccine to play footy or to fight covid, because I’d already had it, and I got through it fine.

“I was as fit as a fiddle – as good as I’ve ever felt – I had a full year left on my contract and was pretty devastated about the way my career came to end. It was very disappointing the way it all went down.

“They (Brisbane) said they would look after me but they pretty much got rid of me as quickly as they could.”

Originally published as Cam Ellis-Yolmen launches $200,000 legal fight against Brisbane after being forced from the game for refusing Covid-19 vaccination