Jason Burt has joined Chris Fagan in angrily hitting out at the ongoing Hawthorn racism saga, calling the allegations against him awful and vile.
Burt's post on Linkedin comes a day after the AFL ended the independent inquiry into claims of historical racism at Hawthorn.
AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said on Tuesday night that Burt, Chris Fagan and Alastair Clarkson had no case to answer under the league's rules, but legal action by the complainants appears certain.
Burt, Clarkson and Fagan all are adamant they are innocent.
Minutes after McLachlan announced the "imperfect solution", Fagan issued a statement saying he would welcome the chance to have the claims tested in an open court.
While the complainants remain anonymous after the initial report was leaked to the media last September, Burt also claimed in his statement that one of the players who made the claims, and his partner, are not Indigenous Australians.
Burt was a welfare officer at Hawthorn at the time of the alleged mistreatment and he now works at a Melbourne school.
He also gave an extensive media interview over the weekend, protesting his innocence
"The Binmada 'report' commissioned by Hawthorn and leaked to the media was a disgrace. Hawthorn’s appointment of Phil Egan to conduct it was the first example of poor governance by Hawthorn in this process," Burt said in his Wednesday statement.
"The so called 'welfare check' on Indigenous players instead presented a selection of unproven and unreliable grievances and allegations which were not checked with me or many other Indigenous and non-Indigenous players at Hawthorn.
"The leaking of it to the media by whoever did it, was even worse. Yet within this process, it has been heartening to review the documents and interviews shared by all past players and officials (many Indigenous) who speak a different truth about how Hawthorn operated in the same time as these vile allegations. The AFL could not speak this truth yesterday.
"I also think it’s important to clarify that 'Zac' and 'Kylie', who continue to make allegations to the media, are not Indigenous Australians."
Burt also insisted that four players who made the allegations had benefitted from their time at Hawthorn.
"This is a case of four men (former players) that spent time at Hawthorn who all needed substantial guidance, support and care," he said.
"This is what they, and so many other players, received from many people over their time at Hawthorn, including from Alastair, Chris and myself.
"All four former players have spent time in my house, with my family as part of the club's method of helping each to resolve their issues. Their time at Hawthorn was maximised because of the on and off field support offered to each."
Burt added he and his family had suffered greatly because of the allegations.
"If the outcome of this 'imperfect resolution' appeases the complainants, then I wish them well," he said.
"Unfortunately, this outcome has done little to diminish the anguish and hurt experienced by my family throughout this ordeal and most likely well into the future."
