Chiefs welcome investigation findings

Chiefs welcome investigation findings

The Chiefs accept the NZ Rugby investigation findings released today, which found the allegations of sexual misconduct by players at post season events in 2015 and 2016 were not able to be substantiated on the balance of the evidence.

CEO Andrew Flexman said while he accepts the allegations are unsubstantiated, it was important the issues were brought to their attention.

“We understand the importance of dealing with the fact players were even in that position to begin with,” Flexman said.

“We have an expectation of our players around celebrating responsibly and not engaging in behaviour or activities which do not reflect the Chiefs values. Clearly on both occasions some of the decision making around the events was not in keeping with those values,” Flexman said.

The investigation also found that Chiefs management should have been more involved in the decisions around the team’s final season celebrations.

“It is also clear that for Chiefs management to allow end of season celebrations to be run by the players with no oversight or supervision was unwise and put the entire organisation in a vulnerable position,” Flexman said.

While Chiefs management were aware the team were planning end of year celebrations they were not aware of the itinerary, nor did they ask for detail of the planned event.

“We know that not all of the players were drinking, or involved in the events,” Flexman said. “However, what happened at both events and the fact others didn’t step in and stop it, is something that as an organisation we have had to deal with the consequences of.”

Players apologise.

The players have today issued an apology to all those affected.

New Zealand Rugby Players Association Chief Executive Rob Nichol said they accepted the investigation’s findings and recommendations.

“The players recognise that collectively they made poor decisions to engage the performers. They know they have not only let themselves down, but also their supporters, sponsors, and work colleagues at the Chiefs Club.

“The players are sorry and publicly apologise for putting the Chiefs and New Zealand Rugby in this position.

“The players also wish to apologise to the women. Ultimately it was the players’ decision that instigated the whole series of events and regardless of the investigations findings we know that the attention and scrutiny received in these situations can be personally very challenging.

“We also recognise that despite the education and support provided to players they will at times make compromised decisions. We know it’s important to take responsibility when mistakes are made, and to learn from them. We accept the outcomes and formal caution in full, and will now focus on helping the Chiefs club to restore confidence,” he said.

CEO Andrew Flexman said the team had collectively accepted responsibility for the poor decision making and had apologised, and the club would not be naming individual players.

“The NZ Rugby investigation found that there was not a sufficient evidential basis on which to bring any misconduct proceedings against any individual player.”

“For us, rather than naming individual players or speaking to unsubstantiated allegations, we are focussing on the measures we are putting in place across the organisation to make sure team celebrations are inclusive and appropriate in the future,” Flexman said.

Post season celebration guidelines.

Chiefs Head Coach Dave Rennie said the errors of judgement around these post season events were disappointing.

“As a club we have worked really hard to build a strong culture and this team would be the best group of men I have ever worked with. Their willingness to connect with the community and charity organisations is something we are really proud of. There were poor decisions made post season. We have to accept responsibility for that and put in processes that will ensure this doesn’t happen again. Based on the work we have done in our community; we hope this doesn’t define us. We look forward to getting the squad together in November and continue their good work,” Rennie said.

Flexman said while they don’t want to stop players celebrating as a team, it was important to implement guidelines around future events.

“End of season celebrations will be much more family focused and will not take place without the involvement and oversight of management.”

“Internally we are working through a series of programmes with management and players to reinforce this,” Flexman said.

“As a club we have a collective responsibility to ensure the behaviour exhibited by all members of the club is of a high standard. So ultimately we are all responsible – we are a team, all the way from the people who play the game to the people who work in the office.”

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Via Facebook:

Message to fans from CEO Andrew Flexman:

The Chiefs accept the NZ Rugby investigation findings released today, which found the allegations of sexual misconduct by players at post season events in 2015 and 2016 were not able to be substantiated.

While we are pleased the allegations are unsubstantiated, it was important the issues were brought to our attention.

As a club we understand the importance of dealing with the fact players were even in that position to begin with. It is also clear that for us to allow end of season celebrations to go ahead without management oversight was unwise and put the entire organisation in a vulnerable position.

We have an expectation of our players around celebrating responsibly and not engaging in behaviour or activities which do not reflect the Chiefs values. On both occasions clearly some of the decision making around the events was not in keeping with those values.

Management was aware of the end of year celebrations but were not aware of the itinerary, nor did we ask for detail of the planned events.

We know not all of the players were drinking, or involved in the events. However, what happened at both events and the fact others didn’t step in to stop it, is something that as a club we have had to deal with the consequences of.

The players have collectively accepted responsibility for their behaviour and have apologised for the impact it has had.

We don’t want to stop players celebrating as a team, but it’s important we do that responsibly, so we will be implementing guidelines around how future events are run.

We’d like to thank our fans for their understanding and support through this challenging time.

Message from Head Coach Dave Rennie:

As a club we have worked really hard to build a strong culture and this team would be the best group of men I have ever worked with. Their willingness to connect with the community and charity organisations is something we are really proud of.

There were poor decisions made post season. We have to accept responsibility for that and put in processes that will ensure this doesn’t happen again. Based on the work we have done in our community; we hope this doesn’t define us.

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