Sydney chairman Richard Colless says Adam Goodes is bitterly disappointed but has accepted Eddie McGuire’s apology for a racist remark about him.
Colless told reporters in Sydney that Goodes was deeply hurt by broadcaster and Collingwood president McGuire’s comment on radio suggesting that he could promote the King Kong stage show.
The comment came just five days after McGuire apologised to Goodes after a 13-year-old Collingwood fan called him an ape during the MCG clash between the clubs.
While Colless said Goodes had graciously accepted the latest apology from McGuire, the chairman did not appear so forgiving.
“I think he’ll have to live with this for a long time,” said Colless, who described McGuire’s comment as an “extension of the vilification” Goodes experienced on Friday.
“As a club it’s impossible to underestimate how disappointed we are given who the individual is, and given his highly commendable actions on Friday.
“The word we came up with earlier is bewildered. We just don’t get it.”
Colless said senior figures at the club had been talking to Goodes through the day and that the dual Brownlow medallist was in a more emotional state as a consequence of McGuire’s comment than on Friday.
Colless said he had spoken with McGuire but did not appear to fully accept his explanation.
“I thought the transcript was pretty explicit,” said Colless.
“I said `I don’t think you have anywhere to go on this. How can we defend a comment as crass as the one you’ve made’.”
He said McGuire went to great lengths to explain the context and his physical tiredness and “so on and so on”.
“I think a slip of the tongue is one word mispronounced. This was a few sentences,” Colless said.
Asked whether he thought McGuire should reconsider his position at the club, Colless said: “I don’t think so. The fact that Adam has unbelievably, in my opinion graciously, accepted Eddie’s apology, I think it’s almost a closed matter.
Swans coach John Longmire said the veteran player would need some support to help him through the latest controversy.
“He was extremely disappointed this morning and felt that way throughout the day,” Longmire said, expressing disbelief about McGuire’s comments.
