Australian Rules-AFL investigating club over treatment of Indigenous players

MELBOURNE : The Australian Football League (AFL) is investigating "extremely serious" allegations about the treatment of Indigenous former players at 13-times champions Hawthorn, including one player who said coaches urged him to have his partner's pregnancy aborted.

Citing an independent review commissioned by Hawthorn, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that the club's staff had separated players from their families and controlled communication between them so they would focus on their careers.

The players were not identified in either the review or the ABC report.

One player said former head coach Alastair Clarkson and assistant coach Chris Fagan were among Hawthorn staff who urged him to "get rid" of his unborn child and separate from his partner, according to the ABC.

"He told me to kill my unborn kid," the report quoted the player as saying of Clarkson.

"I was then manipulated and convinced to remove my SIM card from my phone, so there was no further contact between my family and me.

"They told me I’d be living with one of the other coaches from that night onwards."

The player said he had made multiple suicide attempts since leaving Hawthorn and that the club had broken him "as a man, as a footballer and as a family man," the ABC reported.

Clarkson, who led Hawthorn to four AFL championships from 2008-15, left the club last year after 17 seasons as head coach and was recently appointed to coach North Melbourne, where he was due to start work on Nov. 1.

However, North Melbourne said Clarkson would delay the start of his tenure to fully participate in the AFL's investigation.

"The North Melbourne Football Club is aware of serious historical allegations made against individuals who worked at the Hawthorn Football