North Melbourne senior coach Alastair Clarkson has hit out at his former club Hawthorn and the ongoing investigation into allegations of racism during his time at the club, calling for the Hawks to be investigated.
Clarkson, alongside Chris Fagan and Jason Burt, has denied wrongdoing in the saga, but the four-time premiership coach has now revealed his frustrations over being unable to present his version of events despite the investigation beginning last year.
Speaking to media on Thursday, Clarkson called his former club "shameful" for their handling of the issue.
“There‘s one particular party out there that was the catalyst for all this, that haven't been investigated at all – their governance and conduct in this whole thing, the Hawthorn Football Club, just shameful,” Clarkson said.
“Let‘s do an investigation on them and their practices and see how they go.
“All these events … just makes it a circus, someone just needs to cut through it all and take ownership of the whole process, whether that‘s from within the Hawthorn Football Club or the AFL.”
Clarkson's comments come after panel chairman Bernard Quinn KC released details of the process to the media, revealing that the investigation had stalled after Clarkson, Fagan and Burt allegedly refused to be interviewed until documents detailing the allegations were given to them.
“We‘re just waiting around like we have for the last eight months to see where it goes next … bit intriguing that the guy who actually establishes the protocol around confidentiality actually breaches it yesterday,” Clarkson said.
“We‘re just waiting for the opportunity and the platform to be able to tell our side of the story, and when we get that, Fages, myself and Jase (Burt) right from the get go have been willing to co-operate and be involved in this investigation, but eight months later we still haven't heard when or how it's all going to unfold.
“What‘s the point arguing about it … the damage is done and the reputations have been scarred, and we've got to somehow just claw our reputations back through this whole process, and all we want is a fair platform to be able to do that.
“The procedural fairness offered to myself, Fages and Jason has been next to zero, and that‘s particularly frustrating.”
Allegations towards the trio first emerged in September last year. The AFL subsequently announced the panel to investigate the allegations in early October.
Following Clarkson's comments, Hawthorn released a statement on Thursday afternoon.
"Hawthorn continues to cooperate fully with the AFL and the independent panel while the investigation continues," the statement read.
"We completely understand that this process, and the speed at which it has been conducted, has been frustrating for everyone involved.
"We, like everyone, want to see this matter resolved fairly and quickly in the best interests of all.
"At every step of this process the club has complied with our obligations under AFL integrity rules and confidentiality arrangements."
