Football Australia urged to widen ‘Matilda’s’ probe to grassroots level

A Melbourne whistleblower has lifted the lid on the ugly side of grassroots football, detailing the horrific treatment and social media abuse that pushed her to the edge.

Lisa De Vanna’s public complaints alleging abuse and harassment at the elite level of Australian football has triggered calls to widen the review amid claims there are more problems at the grassroots.

FA has already agreed to hand over the entire investigation to Sport Integrity Australia after De Vanna and other high-profile players revealed a toxic culture within the sport that includes allegations of indecent assault, sexual harassment, bullying and grooming.

The scope of the inquiry has still to be finalised but already News Corp has been privately contacted by numerous participants urging officials to widen the probe to every level of the game.

These included Angela Cole, a Melbourne mother who claims she was bullied at the club she volunteered at as a secretary.

Angela Cole has spoken about her experiences of bullying and harassment at grassroots level of from grassroots level of the sport) and how the system failed her. Picture: Jason Edwards

Cole lodged a formal complaint with Football Victoria, claiming she was harassed by members at her club.

Although FV substantiated the allegations of abuse and intimidation and reprimanded two club officials and directed the club to undertake Member Protection Training and Governance Training, it found that the allegation of discrimination was not substantiated and the claims of bullying were inconclusive.

Cole disputed that, escalating her complaint through all the available channels but to no avail and said the ordeal had a damaging impact on her mental health and wellbeing.

“I got bullied by members of the club,” she said.

“I got called a fat c …. I was rung up at 1 o‘clock in the morning. I got emails, things on Facebook. I got brutalised across social media.

“And this went on for two years. I had to see psychologists to try and deal with it. In the end, I had to go to my doctor and say to him, ‘this is pushing me over the edge!”

Initially reluctant to speak out, Cole said she wanted to tell her story as an act of solidarity to De Vanna and the other players who bravely aired their grievances.

But she said she knows of many other women who have been abused and harassed at other clubs and feel that the complaints system is stacked against them.

“I‘m not the only one. I had many women contacting me after hearing my story before and I even started a Facebook page to support them, but it was taken down,” she said.

“I cried when I read the latest reports because this is happening to so many women at all levels. I’ve heard men say things like ‘we’re sick of all these fat soccer mums telling us how to do things.’

“This is an epidemic in this sport. It‘s not an isolated incident.

“One of the sad things is that it took someone of high profile before they‘ll listen.

“They’re all well aware that’s also going on at national premier leagues and community clubs but they‘re hedging their bets by saying ’let’s keep it (the investigation) at the national level’ but it needs to look at everything because this has really opened up a can of worms.”