Victoria Police have confirmed they have spoken to four men as part of their investigation into an alleged incident at a Melbourne hotel last month involving Sydney Swans players. Detectives from the Sexual Crimes Squad travelled to New South Wales this week and interviewed four Sydney men: a 26-year-old from Randwick, a 30-year-old from Maroubra, a 25-year-old from Randwick, and a 25-year-old from Paddington. The interview process with these men has concluded, according to a police statement carried by ABC Australia and 7NEWS.
The allegations relate to events at East Melbourne's Pullman Hotel in the early hours of August 17. Several adult entertainers are understood to have joined Swans players at the hotel, which is across the road from the MCG. Three women subsequently made a report to police.
Police have said they also spoke to, or will speak with, three more men believed to have been in the hotel room at the time, who are being treated solely as witnesses. No arrests have been made and no charges have been laid. In a statement reported by both outlets, police said: "Police now believe they have now identified all parties who were in the room at the time of the alleged incident and are not looking for anyone further."
The investigation remains active and ongoing, and Victoria Police has indicated it does not expect to provide further updates for about eight weeks.
Club's response
In response to the allegations, the Swans stood down five players — vice captain Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon, Riley Bice, and Nick Blakey — for breaching club standards related to drinking and bringing women to the hotel in the hours after the team's round 23 clash against Essendon. These five players have been suspended for the rest of the season.
The five suspended players have not attended training while coach Dean Cox prepares his second-placed side for Saturday's home qualifying final against Brisbane. Speaking on AFL 360 on Tuesday night, Cox said, "One thing I'll always do is support my players. I'm staying in dialogue with those five players while they're away from the football club."
Cox added, "I haven't spoken to them at all about the police investigation, and also I think we need to understand that there's still an investigation in process. We need to get all the facts on that before we make any assumptions."
Asked by Gerard Whateley whether the players could return to the fold, and noting it would be "an extraordinary circus" if they appeared at training, Cox said, "I think things are changing by the hour and the day." He also said, "There's no timeframe on when they will return, we'll keep talking about it each day and assess the situation from there."
The investigation into the alleged incident continues, and police have stated they are not looking for anyone further in connection with the matter.