AFL identity Brendan Fevola dropped a bombshell on live radio on Thursday as he claimed Collingwood CEO Craig Kelly has been moved on by the Magpies.
It comes after Kelly allegedly made a series of racist remarks about club staff, including ‘joking’ about placing a ‘live f***ing possum’ in a special room for Indigenous players and calling an Aboriginal elder a ‘dumb old b**ch’.
Kelly also allegedly suggested sending a photograph of a ‘Free Palestine‘ sign to a Jewish colleague.
The claims were filed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia last month by Mark Cleaver, the club’s former head of First Nations strategy.
Speaking on Fox FM on Thursday, Fevola claimed Kelly’s days at Collingwood are over.
‘I had a coffee with someone yesterday [who works at one of the big AFL clubs] and they dropped a little bomb on my table,’ Fevola said.
‘I don’t know why they did because I work on the radio. [I have] breaking news,’ he told listeners on the Fifi, Fev & Nick show.
‘A week ago [Graham] Wright, I think he’s the football manager of Collingwood, went on holiday. He won’t return back to the footy club, that’s already in the news.
‘Craig Kelly is the CEO [of Collingwood], he has [also] departed the footy club. No one knows yet.
‘I think they were trying to hold off until the end of the year, which is Friday night as their last game. ‘He won’t be at the footy club next year. Gone.
‘It will be announced probably next week. This happened a couple of weeks ago and they have kept it in-house.’
However, Collingwood denied Fevola’s report on Thursday and said Kelly remains in his position.
Fevola’s bombshell comes after the Magpies commissioned an independent review to deal with racism in 2021.
Former Magpies president Eddie McGuire at the time labelled the release of the report ‘a historic and proud day’ for the club.
A week after his highly-criticised comments, McGuire stood down following more than 20 years in charge.
The Magpies also were in the spotlight when premiership-winning star Heritier Lumumba severed all ties with the club in 2022.
Lumumba stated at the time ‘nothing has changed’ in the wake of the club’s Do Better report into ongoing allegations of racism at the club.
Leave a Reply