Adelaide board member Nick Takos quits after refusing Covid-19 vaccination

The chairman of the Crows has said the resignation of board member Nick Takos was inevitable because he has refused to get a Covid jab – and the media was told before the board was.

Adelaide chairman John Olsen has called the resignation of board member Nick Takos an “inevitable outcome” because of his refusal to receive the Covid vaccination.

Takos announced on Wednesday he was stepping down via a personal statement to the media, which was later sent to the Crows.

Under the club’s vaccination policy, all Adelaide employees, board members and volunteers needed to have their first dose by November 19 and second by December 17.

It followed an AFL mandate for players and staff to be double vaxed.

Olsen told News Corp the Crows learnt from the media about Takos quitting before he had formally resigned to the club.

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SCROLL DOWN TO READ NICK TAKOS’S FULL STATEMENT

The former SA Premier said having an unvaccinated person attending Crows events would put the “club and its participation in the season next year at risk”.

Takos becomes the second Crow to refuse the jab, following dual AFLW premiership player Dani Varnhagen doing so last month and being placed on the club’s inactive list.

“Everyone’s entitled to make a personal decision on matters such as this but those decisions have consequences,” Olsen said.

“As a director, he couldn’t fulfil his responsibilities.

Adelaide Crows board member Nick Takos has quit.

“He couldn’t go in person to board meetings to West Lakes or Adelaide Oval, or events where players were, or training, or go to games.

“Part of a director’s responsibility is to engage with your sponsors, your corporate partners, your membership base, your administration and if you’re unvaccinated, that’s something that’s impossible to achieve.

“Therefore it was an inevitable outcome.

“The board has a duty of care to everybody – by that I mean everybody in the club and also to the wider community.

“If you think about the board having meetings at headquarters or at Adelaide Oval, or we have events with players and staff, and you have an unvaccinated person participating in those events, (it is) putting at risk players and the team in a season about to emerge.”

Olsen said the club had been in discussions with Takos for weeks, extending several deadlines for him to work through the issue.

He said Takos sought a medical exemption for the vaccination but the Crows’ doctor advised – after consulting with the AFL’s medico – that it did not meet ATAGI’s criteria.

Takos, a lecturer at UniSA’s business school with a PhD in leadership and organisational culture, has been on the Crows’ board since March.

The member-elected director worked for the club for 14 years, starting in the 1990s, and had also filled a volunteer role with its past players and officials group.

On his LinkedIn page, he has liked posts about organisations not enforcing Covid vaccinations, anti-mandate protests and discussing the potential side-effects of the jab.

In his statement, Takos said “the AFL’s Covid mandate and the club’s deeply concerning response to it” had left him with no choice but to stand down.

“I have made my position to the board clear that while I am not anti-vaccination generally, corporations should not tell their staff and footy fans what medical treatment is good for them through a mandatory vaccination policy,” Takos said.

“While saddened to make this decision, I wish the club nothing but success in 2022 and beyond.”

Takos also raised concern over an Adelaide SANFL player being hospitalised after

having his first dose and being “diagnosed with pericarditis, a serious heart condition”.

Adelaide Crows training at West Lakes.

It was understood the player’s symptoms had not conclusively been linked to his jab.

Takos said he called a special board meeting to discuss the player’s condition, the health and safety of all squad members, as well as other associated risks.

“It was clear the board was immovable on this issue,” he said.

Takos said questions remained about whether the club had taken steps to review its vaccination policy since the incident and possible impacts on liability insurance.

“I cannot support a coercive and forceful policy that does not consider the proportionate risk to players and staff,” he said.

When contacted by News Corp, Takos declined to comment further.

Olsen said it was “totally inappropriate” for Takos to discuss an individual’s medical record.

The chairman said everyone else at the club had received at least one vaccination dose.

Takos’s board vacancy will be filled early next year when the Crows conduct their annual nomination and election process for member-elected directors.

Along with requiring to be vaccinated to attend Crows headquarters, Adelaide Oval has also implemented a Covid mandate for anyone entering the venue.

Last month Adelaide Oval management also announced anyone wanting to enter the venue, which hosts all AFL games in South Australia, must be fully vaccinated.

Crows chairman John Olsen said the club had been in talks with Takos for several weeks.

“We have a duty of care to all associated with the club and therefore we developed a COVID-19 vaccination policy to ensure there were appropriate health and safety requirements to protect our people and the wider community,” Olsen said.

“As a director, you are obligated to attend meetings at the club’s headquarters and Adelaide Oval, as well as games and other events where players, coaches, staff and corporate partners are in attendance, and Nick is no longer in a position to do so.”

There was understood to be widespread disappointment at the Crows that Takos discussed a player’s personal medical records without specific knowledge of the circumstances.

Takos’s board vacancy will be filled early next year when the Crows conduct their annual nomination and election process for member-elected directors.

Adelaide is also seeking to fill another position because premiership player Rod Jameson is nearing the end of his two-year term. Jameson will nominate again for the board.

Nick Takos' full statement

With great disappointment I announce my resignation from the Board of Directors at the Adelaide Football Club. 
 
The AFL’s COVID mandate, and the club’s deeply concerning response to it, has left me with no choice but to step down. 
 
I am passionate about the Crows and I have invested 21 years of service in one form or another to the club. I understand the challenging position that the board is in. 
 
That said, I have made my position to the board clear that while I am not anti-vaccination generally, corporations should not tell their staff and footy fans what medical treatment is good for them through a mandatory vaccination policy.
 
Further, I have been increasingly concerned following news that one of Adelaide’s SANFL players has been diagnosed with pericarditis, a serious heart condition, as a result of taking the COVID vaccination at the direction of the AFL and club. 
 
Based on this, I called a special board meeting to urgently discuss the player’s condition, the health and safety of all of our players and other associated risks. It was clear the board was immovable on this issue and key, reasonable questions are yet to be answered including; 

• What guidance or direction the AFL has provided the club following notification of the vaccination injury
• What steps the club has taken to review its vaccination policy in light of the incident and any similar events
• Potential consequences of such incidents on insurances against liability under contracts with players and staff
• Whether the known risks of COVID-19 vaccines were considered when the vaccination policy was adopted and, given the player’s injury, proposing that the mandatory policy be reviewed as soon as possible

I cannot support a coercive and forceful policy that does not consider the proportionate risk to players and staff. As a Member Elected Director, I cannot support a policy that unfairly discriminates against our highly diverse 60,000 members and over 650,000 fans who have a wide range of personal and medical considerations when it comes to vaccination.
 
There are many people who have good reason to carefully weigh up all of the risks and factors, and it is ultimately a medical decision that we each have to make for ourselves and in some cases with advice from our doctors. This is a personal and private process that no-one should be forced to share with a corporation, their employer, the media or the world at large.
 
The AFL has chosen to enforce its edict. The only option available was to fall into line at the expense of my personal (private) medical circumstances, including my unique health conditions which have been deemed significant by my specialists, and supported by my cardiologist in a request to the club for a medical exemption (which has been denied). I cannot agree to the imposition of that corporate edict on my health, values and convictions, and those of other staff, players and members, despite the personal cost.
 
While saddened to make this decision, I wish the club nothing but success in 2022 and beyond.

Originally published as Adelaide board member Nick Takos quits after refusing Covid-19 vaccination