Something which won't get mentioned on tv..

[kruzin]

The Carlton Football Club paid several women thousands of dollars in hush money to stop them going public with rape allegations, a former president has revealed.
John Elliott, who was club president during the 1980s and 90s, said "four or five" women were paid about $5000 each during his reign to keep their stories quiet, the Sunday Herald Sun reports.
Mr Elliot said he believed most of the women made up the rape claims and actually had consensual sex with the Blues players.
But the former president admitted he did have concerns one of the women who accepted hush money may have been telling the truth.
"Of the four or five, there was one that we were worried about, the others we knew were not true or we were told by the players they weren't true," Mr Elliot was quoted by the Sunday Herald Sun as saying.
Mr Elliott said he was confident all the other claims were not true because all the women dropped their complaints once they were offered the money.
He said he believed the payments, made to so the club did not have to deal with "a huge front-page story", were appropriate.
A spokesman for the club, Ian Coutts, told the Sunday Herald Sun that Mr Elliot "does not speak on behalf of the Carlton Football Club".



Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/828143/carlton-paid-off-rape-claim-women

 

[Pierced Soul]

unsurprisingly it was on the news.com.au website yesterday but isnt as prominant today. the 'maroons carried on' story generated more press coverage than this....

i dont know how the AFL is so protected but maybe league needs to do whatever the AFL do (i dont mean paying off rape victims, i mean keeping crap stories out of the paper)

 

[bulldog]

Not only will it not get mentioned on TV, it will disappear off the radar and never be mentioned again.

What do you think of this for the new flogball team logo?
Really embraces afl tradition IMO.

 

[Brutus]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25666478-421,00.html

Mr Elliott said he believed the women had made up stories of rape and had, in fact, had consensual sex with players.

But he said the club had concerns one woman might be telling the truth. She also had accepted hush money.

Mr Elliott made the comments at a fund-raiser where he was debating the role of the media in sport, but went further when he spoke to the Sunday Herald Sun yesterday.

Asked why the women were paid off, he said: "We didn't want it to get in the press."

Mr Elliott said some women had been told to "go away", but others were paid.

He believed they had probably consented and then backtracked.

"There's some very ordinary people out there," he said.

He said the club thought the pay-offs were appropriate.

"... rather than go through a huge front-page story ... in all cases I know except one, the players denied it," he said.

The two quotes in bold are extremely worrying. Is Mr Elliott saying that the club knew of a rape where one of the players actually admitted it?

Now where is the outrage? The story is already dead in Melbourne as far as I can see.

Will 4 Corners get to work again?

 

[Lambretta]

I'm more worried that Mr Elliot believes there are people out there that are "more ordinary" than himself.

 

[ironhorse]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25669862-2,00.html

and more . I dont understand the protectionism of AFL , if any of these happened in the NRL it would be a massive story .

 

[Sir Biffo]

Lucky Greg Bird has popped up to give the media something to talk about for the next week and ensure this Carlton mess is quietly swept under the carpet.

 

[Sir Biffo]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25669862-2,00.html

and more . I dont understand the protectionism of AFL , if any of these happened in the NRL it would be a massive story .

Go to TFC and read the AFL culture resource thread.

 

[Brutus]

Gee rugby league leads the sports page of Melbourne's Herald Sun

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/

Oh...it's the Greg Bird incident.

No sign of the John Elliott hush money comments anywhere.

 

[Fraser]

From what I am seeing lately these negative publicity has helped RL.

NRL Crowds are going up, Swans crowds are sliding by the second.

 

[El Diablo]

The Carlton Football Club paid several women thousands of dollars in hush money to stop them going public with rape allegations, a former president has revealed.
John Elliott, who was club president during the 1980s and 90s, said "four or five" women were paid about $5000 each during his reign to keep their stories quiet, the Sunday Herald Sun reports.
Mr Elliot said he believed most of the women made up the rape claims and actually had consensual sex with the Blues players.
But the former president admitted he did have concerns one of the women who accepted hush money may have been telling the truth.
"Of the four or five, there was one that we were worried about, the others we knew were not true or we were told by the players they weren't true," Mr Elliot was quoted by the Sunday Herald Sun as saying.
Mr Elliott said he was confident all the other claims were not true because all the women dropped their complaints once they were offered the money.
He said he believed the payments, made to so the club did not have to deal with "a huge front-page story", were appropriate.
A spokesman for the club, Ian Coutts, told the Sunday Herald Sun that Mr Elliot "does not speak on behalf of the Carlton Football Club".



Source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/828143/carlton-paid-off-rape-claim-women

not the first time such things have been mentioned in AFL

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/03/19/1079199373958.html

Swan helped pay $200,000 over rape claim

By Caroline Wilson, Jake Niall and Emma Quayle
March 19, 2004 - 12:21AM

Two current AFL players, including Port Adelaide's Peter Burgoyne and a Sydney player, reached an out-of-court settlement with a woman who had made sexual assault allegations against them in 2000.

Burgoyne and former AFL player Adam Heuskes were charged with rape over an alleged incident in Adelaide in August of that year.

The charges were not proceeded with and no convictions were recorded. Heuskes was a Brisbane player at the time but is now playing in the South Australian National Football League.

The current Swans player contributed to the payout, which was made in 2002 to settle a civil action by the woman against the players.

It is understood the majority of the payout was contributed by Burgoyne and the Sydney player because they were still earning high salaries.

The Sydney player was not charged. There is no suggestion that the out-of-court settlement was connected with the criminal charges.

Port Adelaide chief executive Brian Cunningham said last night the charges had not proceeded.

He said the basis of the monetary settlement was that "all three players denied the allegations and the woman accepted that the settlement was not an admission of liability".

"There were no findings made in relation to the player. In a subsequent civil action, a woman allegedly involved in the incident sent a letter of demand seeking a financial settlement."

The payout was revealed in The Sunday Age in Melbourne two weeks ago, before the scandal over allegations of serious sexual misconduct involving St Kilda's Stephen Milne and Leigh Montagna surfaced on Tuesday. These players were named by their club, which has said they vehemently deny the allegations.

The Sunday Age report, which was primarily about gang rape allegations in rugby league, did not name the players.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said last night he was unaware of the payment.

Cunningham said that Port Adelaide "did not pay or compensate in any way any party in connection with the matter, nor did it provide or pay the player's legal assistance".

He said the club was not a party to the settlement.

"A senior club official advised the player to obtain a lawyer, which he did," Cunningham said.

"The official attended meetings between the lawyer and the player as an observer."

Sydney chief executive Myles Baron-Hay would not comment last night.

The details of the payment emerged as the AFL and its captains launched a spirited defence of the game and its players.

Demetriou said that while there were times individual footballers would "transgress", he believed the bulk of the AFL's 640 players were "outstanding community leaders".

His thoughts were echoed by club captains, including Collingwood skipper and Brownlow medallist Nathan Buckley, who felt he "owed" football for instilling an ability to make socially responsible decisions.

Demetriou said he was convinced female football supporters would not turn away from the game, and said the AFL's image remained good.

Milne and Montagna have denied the claims made against them by two women after an alleged incident on Sunday night at Montagna's bayside home.

Demetriou named James Hird, Michael Voss and Buckley as "outstanding leaders in this community".

Buckley said he had made more right decisions than wrong because of football.

"Without football I don't know where I'd be," he said.

"I'm no saint, but I owe a lot to footy for the discipline I believe I've got in a lot of areas of my life."

Buckley said the AFL and its clubs now demanded that any off-field indiscretions be dealt with, "not swept under the carpet". He said most players respected women.

"There's always a minority, and those people need to be dealt with to the full letter of the law," Buckley said.

Geelong captain Steven King said he would again address his players on the dangers of off-field indiscretions.

Kangaroos skipper Adam Simpson said his team would this morning be told of their social responsibilities by the Victoria Police.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200403/s1070152.htm

O'Loughlin confirms he's third accused

By Bruce Atkinson

Sydney Swans AFL player Michael O'Loughlin has confirmed he is the third player referred to in reports about an alleged sexual assault that occurred in Adelaide in 2000.

Port Adelaide's Peter Burgoyne and former Brisbane, Sydney and Port player Adam Heuskes were both charged with rape over the alleged incident in the Adelaide parklands in August 2000.

The charges were dropped five weeks later.

It was revealed yesterday that the trio paid a woman $200,000 as part of a civil settlement.

Officials from both Port and the Swans have conceded their clubs were aware of the payment, but said they did not contribute to it.

There is no suggestion the payment was linked to the charges, or that the players admitted guilt.

O'Loughlin says he was never interviewed, let alone charged by police and he says he agreed to contribute to the payment to save his family from the trauma which would have come from defending his name.

 

[ironhorse]

From what I am seeing lately these negative publicity has helped RL.

NRL Crowds are going up, Swans crowds are sliding by the second.

yeah this is the irony , so much drama and intrigue is always going to attract more viewers and crowds . I gotta say at work and in general Rugby League is way more prominent than the last few years , AFL and Soccer in Sydney seems completely dead at the moment ,id be struggling to name many swans . Maybe Gallop is doing a clandestine job that noone ever realised .

 

[El Diablo]

From what I am seeing lately these negative publicity has helped RL.

NRL Crowds are going up, Swans crowds are sliding by the second.

tell that to the Sharks who lost their major sponsor

 

[Jason_(Is_our_King)_Smith]

Here's what the victim said happened in Adelaide..

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2003/transcripts/s1100551.htm

 

[Brutus]

Demetriou named James Hird, Michael Voss and Buckley as "outstanding leaders in this community".

Interesting...

 

[El Diablo]

Interesting...

this guy http://video.google.com.au/videopla...AQ&q=michael+voss+cctv&hl=en&client=firefox-a

 

[Brutus]

this guy http://video.google.com.au/videopla...AQ&q=michael+voss+cctv&hl=en&client=firefox-a

Yeah that's right the king hitter.

Thanks for the refresher.

Michael Voss

What a role model.

 

[MsStorm]

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574,25666478-421,00.html



The two quotes in bold are extremely worrying. Is Mr Elliott saying that the club knew of a rape where one of the players actually admitted it?

Now where is the outrage? The story is already dead in Melbourne as far as I can see.

Will 4 Corners get to work again?

Funny you mentioned 4 Corners cos when SEN were discussing this same story this morning, a rugby league supporter rang in and asked the commentators if 4 Corners would do a report on this.

The response was "of course they would, if one of the ladies came out and was so traumatised by it as happened in the Matty John's saga":lol::lol:

 

[Brutus]

Funny you mentioned 4 Corners cos when SEN were discussing this same story this morning, a rugby league supporter rang in and asked the commentators if 4 Corners would do a report on this.

The response was "of course they would, if one of the ladies came out and was so traumatised by it as happened in the Matty John's saga":lol::lol:

:lol:

Maybe they can go digging for one of those ladies like they did with the Cronulla saga. The lady who had her allegations confirmed by a guilty player would be a good place to start.

 

[Lambretta]

In spite of claims in this thread that this would disappear - I noticed the back page of the Herald's Sports section carried the headline "Former Carlton CEO's rubbish Elliott claims" with a (go inside to a page number for sports that dont matter) reference next to it.

So it seems the press want to give a bit more legs to the story here.

I wonder if tomorrows headline will be "Elliot says PIGS ARSE" to claims they didn't pay slappers cash at Carlton. "Half our bloody team were slappers for a start" screamed an incensed Elliot.