Swans players cleared: Victoria Police will not proceed with criminal charges due to insufficient evidence, the force said on Friday, after investigating reports of sexual assault at an East Melbourne hotel on 17 August.
The official Victoria Police statement, published at 9:26am AEDT, did not name anyone. The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and The West Australian reported that Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Nick Blakey were the players who had been under investigation.
“Following a thorough investigation and based on legal advice, Victoria Police will not proceed with criminal charges due to insufficient evidence,” the force said.
“Sexual Crimes Squad detectives received reports of sexual assault in East Melbourne on 17 August,” the statement said. “The incident occurred at a hotel on Wellington Parade in the early hours of the morning.”
Police also said: “Due to the ongoing civil matter, Victoria Police is unable to make further comment.”
Club bans were separate from the police inquiry
In August, the Sydney Swans suspended Heeney, Warner, Jordon, Blakey and teammate Riley Bice for the remainder of the 2026 season for breaching club standards, after confirming several players were involved in an alleged incident at the team’s Melbourne hotel.
The club said the sanctions were independent of the police investigation.
“We respect there is an ongoing investigation by Victoria Police and the actions we have taken today are independent of this,” the Swans said in their official suspension statement.
Chief executive Matthew Pavlich said at the time: “We are deeply embarrassed and ashamed by the poor choices of our five players.”
The five players later apologised for breaching club standards in a joint statement issued through the club. That apology related to the club’s internal sanctions and was not a comment on the police investigation.
The Age reported that Bice, along with two other men who were in the hotel room, had already been told by police they were being treated only as witnesses.
Earlier police update did not name the players
A September statement from Victoria Police, published in full by AFL.com.au, said three women had made a report to police and detectives had spoken to four men in New South Wales, identified only by age and suburb. The ABC reported it understood those men to be Heeney, Warner, Jordon and Blakey.
Police said at the time that three other men believed to have been in the hotel room were being treated solely as witnesses, and that no charges had been laid.
The Age reported the players have maintained their innocence and denied any criminal wrongdoing. The same report said each of the three women has engaged lawyers about potential civil legal action, which is consistent with police referring on Friday to “the ongoing civil matter”.
No fresh statement from the Swans or the AFL
Neither the Sydney Swans nor the AFL had issued a new public statement in response to Friday’s police announcement at the time of writing.
In September, AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said: “Once the police investigation is complete, we will conduct our own enquiries, but the AFL won’t get involved while there’s a police investigation under way.”
Blakey was traded to North Melbourne in October.
Victoria Police directed anyone needing support to the Sexual Assault Crisis Line on 1800 806 292, or to local services via SASVic. Support is also available through 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732.
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