Australian Rules coaches have been accused of pressuring a player to have his partner’s child aborted so he could concentrate on football.

The allegation was first reported by the Australian broadcaster ABC.

An independent review commissioned by the Hawthorn club of the period 2010 to 2016 recounts the story of one indigenous player whose partner became pregnant. When he told coaches the news, they allegedly ushered him into an office, urged him to have the pregnancy terminated, ‘get rid’ of his partner and move into the home of an assistant coach.

“It was so intimidating, confusing and upsetting,” the former player is quoted as saying. “Clarkson [one of the coaches] just leaned over me and demanded that I needed to get rid of my unborn child and my partner. I was then manipulated and convinced to remove my SIM card from my phone, so there was no further contact between my family and me. They told me I’d be living with one of the other coaches from that night onwards’.

The report states the player “felt he had no choice. ‘He told me to kill my unborn kid.’”