‘This is not a racist club’: Eddie McGuire steps down as Collingwood President

Collingwood President Eddie McGuire has announced his resignation effective immediately and has reiterated his belief that the football club is “not a racist club, far from it”.

Mr McGuire’s resignation comes after the release of the ‘Do Better’ report into the club’s handling of racism.

Many community leaders and key public figures had called for Mr McGuire’s immediate resignation following his comments at the release of the report in which he said it was “an historic and proud day” for the club.

The outgoing president was due to leave the post after 22 years at the end of 2021, but said it is neither “fair or tenable” for the club and the community to do so.

“People have latched on to my opening line last week and as a result I have become a lightning rod for vitriol but have placed the club in a position where it is hard to move forward with our plans of clear air”.

“I say we are not a racist club, far from it. Our recent review, inspired by Black Lives Matter, that part of a six-year journey or reconciliation plan was to look to what we need to do in the next 10 years, not the last.

“The report does make the point that there have been systemic problems, which the authors explain means problems with our processes that saw our club react to incidents.

“The benchmark of time in office is to ask if the organisation is left in a better place than when the term began. I believe that to be the case, but one thing I have learnt this week, plenty of people have their say about me.”