The investigation into a junior football coach who allegedly forced a player to rub their nose in the dirt has been described as a whitewash.
Photo: 123RF
Mark Joyce raised concerns with Football South after witnessing the coach of an opposing team force a 13th grade player to rub their nose in the dirt in June.
Football South released the findings of their investigation last week and cleared the coach of wrongdoing, saying the practise was meant to be "fun" and "the intentions behind it were pure".
But Mr Joyce has rubbished those findings.
"I asked [Football South chief executive] Chris [Wright] how they came to the conclusion they did and he said there was no photographic evidence.
"My concern with the way they conducted the investigation is that from the outset, when I was interviewed, there was only going to be one finding anyway.
"I had people who contacted me independently who had seen what happened and said they were more than happy to go ahead with being spoken to, and when I offered them the names they weren't interested in getting those."
Despite the investigation concluding that the coach had instructed the player to perform a press-up until his nose touched the ground, Mr Joyce was adamant about what he witnessed.
"I heard somebody yelling, 'Hurry up and get on the ground, rub your nose on the ground'.
"Then I saw one of children get on his haunches and put his nose on the ground and rub his nose on the ground.
"The person who had been yelling turned to the person next to him and scoffed, 'Hahaha, look what I made him do'."
He confronted the coach after the game and told him what he witnessed was appalling.
The coach responded that the practise was a trick he learnt.
Mr Wright said Football South had no further comment to make regarding the investigation.
"As far as we are concerned the issue has been investigated and closed."
He would not comment on who was interviewed as part of the investigation.
The investigation found the practise - while viewed as extreme - did not meet best practise. It was done with the consent of players and parents.
Therefore, Football South did not believe it was appropriate to sanction the coach or club.
Green Island Football Club is believed to be at the centre of the investigation. Repeated attempts to contact the club have been unsuccessful.
