Thread by @aamer_rahman

1/ One of the biggest criticisms in the @CollingwoodFC racism report is that the club has always treated incidents of racism as PR problems to be deflected and shut down rather than dealing with them properly. This press conference demonstrated exactly that. #CfcDoBetter

2/ Collingwood's line is that they deserve credit for having the 'courage' to commission a report into their own racism. The only reason this report happened is because of the public pressure @iamlumumba single-handedly brought on them by not backing down from his claims.

3/ The press conference was a train wreck. Eddie and the board members denied, deflected, and contradicted themselves, each other, and the report. Collingwood did not release this report in good faith. They were trying to bury it and it was leaked.

4/ Things Eddie actually said over the course of the press conference:

"It wasn't systemic racism as such"
"This wasn't an investigation"
When asked if the report was humbling - "It's a day of pride"
"The report actually says we have improved"
'We're on the good side of this"

5/ This response from Collingwood is a slap in the face to
Larissa Behrendt's incredible work documenting the deep systemic failures of the club, and its cynical and self-serving history of silencing victims of racism. At one point the report was dismissed as 'nothing new.'

6/ Eddie told a Very True Story about bumping into some 'young players of colour' in the gym today who were 'delighted' by the report. When asked about the report referencing major personalities who put themselves ahead of the club, he said didn't know who it was referring to.

7/ Board members repeatedly tried to twist the meaning of 'systemic racism' to deflect accountability, saying that the report was simply calling for the club's reporting procedures to be improved.

8/ Any time journalists called attention to explicit language in the report saying the club has a deep, historic cultural problem, it was avoided or sweaty Eddie got belligerent and combative. The delusion and narcissism actually had echoes of Trump.

9/ There was also some pretty comical rambling from Eddie about Collingwood's black and white stripes coming together to represent racial equality, him learning lessons from Black Lives Matter, and Collingwood being a place for 'those from the slums' and the 'downtrodden.'

10/ Collingwood used the announcement about the report 6 months ago as a way of silencing discussion about @iamlumumba. Now they say he refused to 'sit down' with them (can you blame him?) and are using a pending legal process to do exactly the same thing.

11/ If they really took this report and its recommendations seriously, they would simply apologise to Lumumba for his treatment at the club and their public campaign to discredit him when he came forward. They have never needed to 'sit down' with him to do that.