Victoria police have warned the media not to contact the complainants in the alleged sexual assault that occurred at the Sydney Swans team hotel early on Monday morning, as the investigation remains ongoing.
A manager in the police media unit issued a release to journalists on Thursday admonishing the media for its behaviour in recent days, amid feverish national interest in the story.
“We are aware media have repeatedly contacted the parties involved in this matter and this is having a significant impact, particularly on the complainants,” it read.
“We ask that media are respectful of all those involved and that repeated harassment of any parties may ultimately have an impact both on the criminal investigation and the welfare of the complainants.
“We also again remind you again of your responsibilities and ask you do not publish any details that may identify those complainants involved.”
Victoria police have also become frustrated with the volume of enquiries they have received, and said “we are not going to provide running commentary or information about the specific circumstances of the investigation, including the movements of detectives”.
Police have said they will no longer answer individual requests from media, instead broadcasting alerts to their entire media list when there are updates to the investigation.
“I appreciate that many of you will feel frustrated that we are limited at this time with what information we can provide, however our priority is to ensure the investigation is not prejudiced or impacted in any way,” the statement added.
Earlier on Thursday, the Sydney Swans issued “a letter to our community”, signed by Sydney Swans chair Andrew Pridham and chief executive Matthew Pavlich, as the club continues its attempts at repairing trust following actions by players on Monday which triggered a police investigation into allegations of sexual assault.
“We know that moving forward as a club will take time. Every member of our community will process this in their own way, and we do not take your trust or support for granted,” said the letter, which also highlighted Sunday’s matches at the SCG.
“This is only the second time in the AFLW team’s history that our athletes have played for premiership points at our spiritual home.
“It’s a significant moment for our athletes who have worked so hard. We encourage our members and fans to support the team and give them the recognition they deserve as we aim to set a record for the biggest Sydney Swans AFLW crowd in Sydney.”
Swans’ men’s players Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon were stood down for the rest of the season on Wednesday.
The five players apologised in relation to the club sanctions in a joint statement issued by the Swans on Wednesday evening. “We are deeply sorry to everyone involved,” they said. “We know that our behaviour has fallen well short of the standards expected of us and the values of our club.”
Victoria police have also said they are investigating an alleged sexual assault at the Pullman Hotel in Melbourne. None of the players stood down for breaching club standards have been arrested or charged with any offences.
Victoria Police Sex Crimes Squad detectives were in Sydney on Thursday to further their investigations.
There are fears the events of this week will impact attendance at the highly-anticipated double header this weekend.
The afternoon at the SCG had promised to be a celebration of the progress of Swans’ women’s team and was set to deliver the team a record crowd.
Former AFLW player and commentator Kate McCarthy urged women’s football supporters to attend for the sake of the women’s players.
“Please go to support the AFLW side of things because this is big for them,” she told Channel Seven. “It’s a big occasion for them to play alongside their men’s football club, and obviously, what has happened this week has taken a lot away from that.”
