Players fear report into Hockey Australia’s ‘toxic culture’ will be swept under the carpet

The review into Hockey Australia’s culture has now been completed and forwarded to the governing body. But player requests to see it have been ignored.

Past and present Hockeyroos are becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of information and access to the long-awaited report into Hockey Australia’s “toxic culture”.

Highly-placed sources have confirmed that the independent review into the sport’s culture has now been completed and forwarded to Hockey Australia but has gone no further, raising fears the alleged problems within the sport will be swept under the carpet.

It’s understood that the Australian Hockey Players’ Association (AHPA) has asked to see the report but each of its requests has so far been ignored, angering players already sceptical that anything will ever change.

Only a tight group of senior officials will ever get to see the full report and the only findings that will be released publicly will be heavily edited, raising the possibility some of the complaints about the way the high-performance program has been run will be omitted.

Sources have said the edited report could be released as soon as next week, with Hockey Australia chief executive Matt Favier planning to travel to Perth to address members of the national squad before the report comes out. Just exactly what is revealed is still being reviewed amid concerns that a whitewashed version just won’t cut it given the sheer number of serious complaints that have been lodged and the government’s pledge to create more transparency around integrity ­issues in sport.

The Daily Telegraph knows of at least two sponsors who are anxious to learn what is in the full report before deciding whether to continue their financial backing of Hockey Australia. This comes after it was revealed last year that Hockey Australia was at risk of losing its public funding unless it agreed to an independent review after initially wanting to keep it all in house.

The Australian Hockey Players’ Association requests to see the “toxic culture” report have been ignored. Picture: AAP

Hockey Australia maintains it has always acted in the best interests of the players and taken their complaints seriously and there will be no cover up if problems are discovered. Under the terms of the review, it was agreed from the outset that the report would not be released in its entirety as some witnesses had provided evidence on the understanding their identities would remain confidential.

However, critics fear the published version will be so watered down that the public will never get to know the full truth. Neither Hockey Australia or the players association will comment publicly on the review until it has been released but plenty of former players, including star defender Anna Flanagan, are now openly questioning why it’s taken so long.

“Sooo it’s been like 6 months, where the hell are the results for the Hockeyroos external review? Getting nice and close to the Olympics,” she tweeted.

Current players, speaking anonymously, say there has been a noticeable shift to repairing the culture within the national women’s squad since the disturbing allegations about the high-performance program first became public.

Dozens of past and present players came forward with reports about body-shaming, bullying and intimidation that led to players developing serious eating disorders, self-harming and walking away.

Several senior staff have since left, including the high-performance director Toni Cumpston. In addition to the cultural review, two players who were controversially left off the preliminary squad for the Tokyo Olympics have lodged appeals still yet to be finalised.

Originally published as Players fear report into Hockey Australia’s ‘toxic culture’ will be swept under the carpet