ADELAIDE'S national recruiting manager Matt Rendell has quit after he was identified to the AFL as the recruiting chief who claimed he would not draft an Aboriginal player unless he had one white parent.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou this morning telephoned Crows chief executive Steven Trigg asking Adelaide to investigate the allegation.



Rendell was forced to resign, effective immediately.

Adelaide chief executive Stephen Trigg said after talking to Rendell his position at the club was deemed "untenable''.

"Matthew disputes the interpretation in the context of what was said but he is aware that to continue in the role would be to attach those comments to the club,'' Trigg said.

"Our club has a strong history of recruiting, fostering and developing Aboriginal players (including dual Norm Smith Medallist Andrew McLeod) and we have full intention of doing so in the future.

"There has never been any suggestion at our club about changing our recruiting policies, particularly involving Aboriginals.''

The administration of the club had not spoken to any of the Crows' Indigenous players about the decision but Trigg said while he expected they would be disappointed, he also hoped they would appreciate the swift action the club had taken.

Trigg said the comments reported about recruiting Indigenous players had never been spoken about anywhere within the club, at any level.

Asked whether the comments attributed to Rendell were likely to have affected recruiting decision in the past, Trigg said recruiting was a collaborative approach and he doubted it had.

Rendell issued a statement apologising for his remarks.



"I believe the comments in a meeting with Jason (community engagement officer Jason Mifsud) were taken out of context. They were misunderstood. I have a strong track record of recruiting Aboriginal players. My comments were about where recruiting could finish up without proactive work. I was trying to help.



“However, knowing the implication of such reports, I’ve decided to stand down.



“To stay would attach those comments to the club, which is not the case either.”

The recent comments about recruiting Indigenous players were shockingly ignorant and disappointing.

Demetriou said he was pleased the matter had been addressed quickly and decisively.



“There is no place in our game for discrimination in any form, whether it is based on race, gender or sexual identity, and quite simply it will not be tolerated,” Mr Demetriou said.



“The recent comments about recruiting Indigenous players were shockingly ignorant and disappointing.



“The AFL acknowledges that the views expressed do not reflect the attitude, approach or values of the Adelaide Football Club.



"Their handling of this matter reflects the high standards they have set since entering the AFL competition.”

The AFL has spoken to a number of clubs about concerns over recruiting Indigenous players after charges were laid against Melbourne star Liam Jurrah following an alleged machete attack in central Australia.

One recruiter - now revealed to be Rendell - told the league that it would not recruit an Indigenous player if he had two black parents.

Geelong football manager Neil Balme said the AFL had to name the club involved to protect the reputations of all other recruiters.

"The AFL needs to publicise who this is. Otherwise we are all tarred,'' Balme said on SEN today.

Mifsud said several clubs had indicated they had concerns about recruiting Aboriginal players because they could be more difficult to handle.



"I have had direct conversations with a number of recruiting officers. A recruiter from one club told me that, 'Unless they have a white parent we are not going to draft an Aboriginal player and our club would not be alone in that'," Mifsud told Fairfax Media.

"That is a mindset that is permeating back through parts of the industry. Fortunately, there are still many clubs that embrace Aboriginal talent.

"When people start talking about race as part of a recruiting decision, and then splitting that out to be a question of mixed race, fundamentally people are going into areas they have no idea about. It is ignorant and offensive."

Brisbane Lions champion Chris Johnson, now an AFL engagement and talent co-ordinator, says the AFL has gone backwards on Indigenous talent.

"The situation right now is something that I thought would probably never come, I thought we had gotten past that but as I said before, we've taken a step backwards, so we've got a lot of work to do," Johnson told The Footy Show last night.

With Al Paton, Ken Burrowes

Originally published as AFL recruiter quits over racism row