Carlton review 2021: Key member Vince Loccisano calls on Blues president Mark LoGiudice to release review findings

Carlton fans are anxiously waiting to see what an external review reveals about their struggling club, but president Mark LoGiudice has other plans for the dossier.

Blues bosses say the findings of a review into the club’s football operations will remain under lock and key “to eliminate any risk of damage to the reputations of good Carlton people”.

In a letter from Carlton president Mark LoGiudice to board challenger Vince Loccisano obtained by the Herald Sun, LoGiudice rejects calls for the review’s recommendations to be made known to long-suffering club members.

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Carlton president Mark LoGiudice, left, and club ceo Cain Liddle on the day they appointed David Teague as Carlton's new coach. Picture: Michael Klein

“The review will focus on all areas of the football department including strictly confidential interviews with many of the employees in the department,” LoGuidice explains in the August 10 letter.

“At a point in time, the board may make a statement about the review, but only if the board is satisfied this can be done while respecting workplace laws and the rights and reputations of the employees and the many other external people that were interviewed on the basis their identities would remain confidential.

“Given the strictly confidential basis in which the review has been conducted, it will not be shared in the public domain nor with you, to eliminate any risk of damage to the reputations of good Carlton people.

“The review was commissioned by the board and as you would expect and should understand, the details will remain private and confidential.”

In another scathing letter to Loccisano, a Blues life member and past president of the powerful “Carltonians” coterie group pushing for the staging of an extraordinary general meeting and a spill of the Carlton board, LoGiudice scolds him for going public with his grievances about a series of proposed changes to club’s constitution.

The changes include an increase in the number of signatures needed to force an EGM from 100 eligible voting members to five per cent of the total pool, the waiving of a requirement for a Blues director to have been a club member for at least two years before joining the board and a reduction in the annual rotation of club directors seeking re-election from three down to two.

Loccisano’s group, going by the name “Carlton Now – Our Club, Our Future”, says “there is a widespread lack-of-faith in the current board’s ability to run a football department, presiding, as they have, over the 10 worst years in our proud club’s history”.

They want the Carlton board to “separate the proposed constitutional amendments (which also include positive advances in acknowledging women and indigenous Australians) into logical groupings, so that when they are again put to members for endorsement, the positive proposed changes can be voted on separately to those designed to extend the current board’s power”.

Carlton has agreed to postpone a vote on the constitutional changes from next week until February.

Carlton life member Vince Loccisano has called on the Blues board to release the external review - handed down this week - to all members.

In the August 9 letter to Loccisano, LoGiudice says: “The proposed reforms to the constitution are the result of thorough consultation and consideration by a dedicated working group over a long period of time.

“I can confirm with you, the feedback we have received to date, is that the vast majority of members are in support of the proposed changes.

“Where members have raised questions or concerns, they have been dealt with directly and via the appropriate channels. These discussions have been constructive and respectful.

“It would be appropriate for you to provide your concerns and suggestions to me or other key personnel at the club directly, if in fact your interest is what is best for Carlton, rather than issuing ultimatums and expressing your views in the media for your own self interest.

“If you don’t want to work through me, I can suggest another director who will be only too happy to discuss your concerns at the earliest opportunity.”

Carlton’s football department review, led by ex-Collingwood football boss Geoff Walsh, was presented to LoGiudice’s board this week.

Loccisano told the Herald Sun: “The Carlton members have paid for this review and deserve to know what it recommends and why”.