AFL Rd 5 - Melbourne v Richmond
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - JULY 05: The Demons look dejected after losing the round 5 AFL match between the Melbourne Demons and the Richmond Tigers at Melbourne Cricket Ground on July 05, 2020 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)

The Melbourne Football Club has publicly admitted fault for for the wording of a job advertisement for a role in their Football Technology Pathway Program, per Fox Footy.

The much chastised advertisement sought three to four people for unpaid roles between December 2020 to October 2021 with contact hours in excess of 10 hours per week.

“An exciting opportunity has become available for 3-4 individuals to volunteer within the club's football department for the 2021 season,” the advertisement read.

“Reporting to the football analysis team, the successful individuals will contribute to a broad range of areas within all four of our teams in the AFL, VFL, AFLW and VFLW.

“This program would best suit students or graduates from either an exercise and sports science, information technology, statistical and multimedia background, who have a strong interest and understanding of AFL football.”

 

Having been brought to light on social media on Tuesday morning, the ad was rebuked widely across several platforms.

In response to this, club CEO Gary Pert sought to clarify the mechanics of the position.

“The scope and intent of the program was to keep the time frame flexible, to allow us to accommodate students at any month of the proposed period,” Pert told Scott Gullan from the Herald Sun.

“To be clear, this pathway program does not run for a total of 11 months. Instead, the duration of the program is predicated on the student's individual course requirements and no student's hours will exceed the amount they need to complete their university unit.

“The club accepts that there were elements of the advertisement that were worded poorly and lacked clarity, and we will ensure this does not occur again.”