Essendon Football Club apologises to former Chief Executive

The Essendon Football Club has apologised to Andrew Thorburn over its handling of his short stint as its Chief Executive.

Thorburn chose to resign just one day after being appointed to the job at the Melbourne AFL club in October, due to his role as Chair of a church with divisive views around abortion and homosexuality.

In a joint statement released on Tuesday, Thorburn and the club said their dispute had been resolved with Essendon apologising over the way it handled the events leading to his departure after just one day in the role.

In a joint statement, the two parties said they had resolved the dispute over the matter and would work to "enable a wider community conversation on the importance of freedom of conscience, religion and belief".

Essendon said it acknowledged "that the events of October should have been handled better and apologises for the impact it had on Mr Thorburn, his family and others".

"Both parties consider that elements of the public commentary at the time were extreme and wrong and counter-productive to the respectful community dialogue they agree is critical.

"Mr Thorburn remains welcome at the Club. The Club reiterates that he is a person of integrity who treats others, whether at work or elsewhere, with dignity and respect.

"He has a strong track record of leadership including with respect to diversity and inclusion of LGBTIQ and other minority groups."

The statement noted genuine diversity should include people of faith and "everyone should be able to openly express their personal position, in a respectful way, without fear and still feel that they belong".

The statement went on to say “a critical element of this resolution is to enable a wider community conversation on the importance of freedom of conscience, religion and belief and how to have respectful dialogue between people with different views and perspectives.”

As part of the dispute resolution, the Club will make a donation to an ethics institute to prepare a paper on how sporting organisations can build "inclusive communities recognising freedoms including those relating to race, religion and sexuality".

The statement did not specify which institute would be funded to prepare the paper.

Image: Andrew Thorburn during his brief time as Chief Executive of Essendon FA. Credit: Twitter/@essendonfc.