Sydney Swans scandal: Dean Cox and Callum Mills break silence as AFL club vows to rebuild trust before finals
Swans coach Dean Cox and captain Callum Mills are fronting a media conference on Friday morning for the first time since the alleged sexual assault scandal erupted.
Sydney has stood down players Riley Bice, Nick Blakey, Isaac Heeney, James Jordon and Chad Warner for the rest of the season for breaching club standards by drinking late into the night and bringing women to the hotel.
Cox started by expressing his and the club’s respect for women, and apologising to them.
“I would like to express the respect for women is of the highest priority for both myself personally and our football club,” Cox told a media pack outside Swans HQ.
“To those women involved, I hope everyone is getting the support they need.”
He vowed to restore the community’s faith in the club and its culture.
“Our culture isn’t perfect. One thing that we do know is our culture has taken a hit,” Cox said.
“The thing you need to understand about a culture is how you respond and the actions you take following being here.
“We going to work through as hard as we possibly can, to get the trust back from the community, to get the culture where we desire to be, where we once had been.”
They are embroiled in a Victoria Police investigation after allegations of a sexual assault at the Pullman East Melbourne hotel in the early hours of Monday.
No one has been arrested and no charges have been laid. NewsWire is not accusing any players of sexual assault, only that they have been involved in the investigation.
Both Cox and Mills have made limited comments during the week, leaving the task of addressing the scandal to chief executive Matthew Pavlich and chair Andrew Pridham.
Sydney secured second spot on the ladder and at least two home finals after surviving a minor scare to ease past last-placed Essendon by 36 points at the MCG last Sunday evening.
But their finals campaign has been thrown into disarray, with fans turning on the team and sponsors walking away.
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