Heretier Lumumba accuses Collingwood of spreading misinformation ahead of investigation into racism claims
Heretier Lumumba says he was called racist names including “slave” during his time at Collingwood, taking to social media to accuse the club of “spreading misinformation” about him while investigating allegations of racism.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Former Magpie Heritier Lumumba has accused Collingwood of “spreading misinformation” about him in its investigation into alleged racism at the club.
Lumumba, who is maintaining his refusal to be involved in the club’s internal investigation into the club’s environment from 2005-2014 and his allegations of racism, claimed the club had been “attempting to discredit me publicly and privately” and revealed graphic nicknames he said he had been subjected to.
Watch Footy LIVE & On-Demand Every Day from July 29 - August 17 with Kayo. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
Reports on Tuesday claimed that Collingwood captain Scott Pendlebury had been given permission by Lumumba to call his teammate “Chimp”, which Lumumba claimed had been “leaked”.
“This is exactly why I refuse to be part of Collingwood’s so-called integrity commission,” he wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
“They continue to spread misinformation about me behind the scenes.
“If neither myself nor Scott Pendlebury commented for this story, where did the information come from? Who could possibly be leaking information about CFC’s investigation to journalists?
“CFC’s investigation has not even begun. Agreed terms of reference for the scope and scale of the integrity commission do not even exist. Yet someone is backgrounding journalists on initial findings of the investigation?”.
1) This is exactly why I refuse to be part of Collingwood’s so-called integrity commission. They continue to spread misinformation about me behind the scenes. https://t.co/v2zhvimuYE
— Hériter Lumumba (@iamlumumba) August 12, 2020
Collingwood appointed indigenous professor Larissa Behrendt in July to head the independent review of the environment at the club.
Fox Footy’s Tom Morris, who worked in conjunction with colleague David Zita on the story which was published on Tuesday, stands by the report and said he had spoken with Pendlebury’s manager to make him aware of what was being reported.
Pendlebury hit out at the story on Twitter.
No one spoke to me in relation to this article. Click bait.
— Scott Pendlebury (@SP_10) August 11, 2020
There is an independent review into the time in question. I will respect it. https://t.co/j8tix4sQ5D
Lumumba shared a message he had received from Zita, which had asked him to comment on whether he had allowed Pendlebury to use the nickname.
“I’m not shocked at all,” the former Magpie and Demon wrote.
“Collingwood has a track record of attempting to discredit me publicly and privately.
“The club has repeatedly attempted to suggest that I was responsible for the anti-African ideas that were interwoven into the culture. This is what they told The Project in 2017 and what Eddie McGuire himself said on live television only a few weeks ago.
“My claims are about more than simply a nickname.
“I was called ‘black c*nt,’ ‘black dog,’ ‘ni**er,’ ‘slave,’ listened to the most outrageous racist ideas and jokes, got into verbal altercations and even physical altercations, and had the club’s PR machine weaponised against me.
“I’m not sure why CFC would want to drag its current captain into an ongoing racism scandal. There are clearly people willing to put their egos and careers above the growth of the club, and are more interested in smearing me than taking responsibility for their failures.”
Collingwood has maintained throughout the saga that it would not comment on the matter until the inquiry is concluded.
MORE AFL NEWS:
Jeff Kennett concedes Tasmania games ‘unlikely’ with the Hawks potentially facing a huge cost
KFC SuperCoach Round 12 trade guide: Top targets, how to finish your forward line
AFL injuries: Who is hurt and who is on the way back for Round 11 and 12