By Brittany Busch and Michael Gleeson
AFL chief Andrew Dillon has personally apologised to the four umpires at the centre of the Lachie Schultz concussion saga for the league’s handing of the events.
In a phone hook-up on Wednesday, Dillon had a broad conversation with the four umpires involved and offered them an apology for the league’s clumsy handling of the matter, which led to the umpires being wrongly accused of misleading the league.
His talk with the umpires was not prompted by the threat of legal action but out of a concern to rebuild relationships between AFL and its officiators.
Kane Cornes.Credit: Getty Images
The league’s apology came to light as football media personality Kane Cornes apologised “unreservedly” to the umpires in a prepared statement read out on SEN on Thursday afternoon.
It was reported this week that the four umpires who officiated in last month’s Fremantle-Collingwood match – Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer, Justin Power and Martin Rodger – were considering legal action over some of the public commentary that followed. They had not threatened to take action against their bosses at the AFL.
Cornes apologised on-air to the four umpires for “false allegations” he made on SEN Sportsday on May 14.
“I accused field umpires who were officiating that round nine match between Fremantle and Collingwood of misleading the AFL, and that they had not seen the incident in which Collingwood’s Lachie Schultz suffered a concussion,” Cornes said.
He said he made the comments after seeing the AFL’s initial statements on the matter on May 9 and 13, and made further comments after seeing a third AFL statement “readdressing their initial statements”.
“Now in light of the additional statement, which made it clear that the umpires had not misled the AFL, I acknowledge that the allegations made by me on this show were false, and I withdraw them,” Cornes said.
“I understand the umpires truthfully told the AFL that they saw the incident and did not mislead the AFL. So I unreservedly apologise to Simon Meredith, Craig Fleer, Justin Power and Martin Rodger for making these false allegations.”
AFL CEO Andrew Dillon.Credit: Getty Images
A source familiar with the discussions between the umpires and media organisations said the apology would put an end to the threatened legal action.
Cornes also discussed the fallout from the Schultz incident on Seven’s Agenda Setters on the night of May 13.
On Thursday, that episode of Seven’s flagship AFL show could no longer be viewed on the broadcaster’s streaming service, 7Plus.
The umpires expect a similar apology to Cornes’ SEN apology will be made on Agenda Setters next week.
Channel Seven, the AFL’s free-to-air broadcast partner, declined to comment when this masthead asked why the episode was no longer available.
A statement to Nine News by the AFL Umpires Association on Tuesday did not name anybody but referred to “commentary that casts aspersions on an individual’s integrity and professional competence”.
On the night of May 13, five days after Schultz was concussed and play continued while he lay injured on the ground, the AFL’s football operations boss Laura Kane wrongly claimed the umpires misled the league about whether they saw the injured player.
The following day, Kane cleared the umpires of any wrongdoing and cited a miscommunication with the umpiring department for her earlier statement.
Kane did not apologise to the umpires but admitted the league’s processes failed.She said the league took “full responsibility” for that failing.
“We have determined there was a miscommunication from members of the umpiring department, not the field umpires,” Kane said in a statement at the time.
Umpires association chief executive Rob Kerr said in the statement on Tuesday that the umpires had been “advised as to their legal rights in relation to some of the commentary that followed the Lachlan Schultz concussion issue”.
“Being falsely accused of lying and misleading the AFL goes beyond simply questioning the management of the actual incident,” he said.
“Public commentary that casts aspersions on an individual’s integrity and professional competence, particularly when that is core to the role they perform, harms their personal and professional standing, and it is reasonable to consider how that can be rectified.”
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