Australian rules football investigates racism allegations

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — The Australian Football League says it is investigating “very serious allegations” made by Indigenous players that they were racially abused by a coach at the Hawthorn Football Club in Melbourne. A former Hawthorn player has told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. that he was told by the AFL club’s then-coach to terminate his partner’s pregnancy. Three Indigenous families involved at Hawthorn during the same man’s period as coach between 2005-21 have told the ABC they were bullied and told to choose between their football careers and their families. Indigenous players on Australian rules football teams have often complained of crowd abuse at stadiums but this is the first time that a team’s coaching staff has faced serious racism allegations.