Weekly Times | MURRAY Magpies president Ted Miller says the club will consider enlisting AFL NSW/ACT to bring its case of alleged racism directed at their player by an umpire to a head.
The Hume league, which is conducting the investigation, met with the Magpies player and umpire on Friday, but no “agreement” was reached, according to Miller.
The incident allegedly occurred in Round 15, when the club played Coreen-Daysdale Hopefield-Buraja United on July 25.
Miller said he would seek advice from the state’s governing body as the investigation dragged on into its fourth week.
“It’s a touchy situation, and everyone’s got to handle it the right way,” Miller said.
“I want to get in touch with NSW AFL this week to see what the correct procedure is from now on if we can’t agree.”
But Miller said whether the club took the investigation further was entirely dependent on the player’s wishes.
“We just want to support (the player) as best we can,” Miller said.
“If he wants to continue we will explore exactly what the next stage of the process is.”
Miller said he planned to speak with the player early this week.
AFL North East Border umpiring development manager Mark Bywater, acting as a spokesman for the umpire, said the accused umpire did not wish to comment until the findings were released.
But Bywater said the umpire claimed they “never made the alleged comment”.
Hume league president Merv Wegener was hopeful of a resolution this week, but the investigation’s conclusion remained without a set deadline.
