Robson quits EssendonDateMay 23, 2013
Will Brodie and Jake Niall
The Essendon supplements crisis has claimed its biggest scalp so far, with CEO Ian Robson resigning.
Robson has told a press conference at Windy Hill that he had offered to resign as soon as the extent of the club's supplements crisis was revealed in February. He said he agreed with the assessment of the Switkowski report into Essendon's governance that "lack of proper process" occurred in 2012.
His said his resignation has now been accepted and he would leave the club immediately.
He said there were things that "just should not have happened" on his watch.
"...We let down out players and their families... there are no excuses... As CEO I am accountable..." he said.
In a lengthy statement, Robson said that if there was a line in the sand on the issue of drugs in sport, he wanted to be on the side of "health and safety for players" and the fairness of the game.
"I did not know (about the club's suplements crisis), but I should have known".
Chairman David Evans spoke after Robson, and paid tribute to his departing CEO, saying his statement was a "testament to him as a person and an administrator". Evans said the club needed Robson over the past four months to help it through a "distressing phase".
"While there are challenges ahead of us, the club is starting to stabilise," Evans said, when asked why Robson was departing now.
Questioned after the statements were read, Robson said he recognised it was the "right and appropriate course of action" to resign, despite believing he had done the right thing by the club by staying on since February.
"Now was the right time," he stated.
Evans paid credit to Robson's resilience, and praised his contribution to Essendon.
An interim CEO will be anounced in the next 24 hours.
Robson made it clear that he felt he had a future in sports administration, even saying he would be "better for this experience".
Robson was recruited from the Hawks after overseeing the near-doubling of Hawthorn's membership and a premiership in 2008.
The Switkowski Report into Essendon's corporate governance of the use of supplements in 2012 explicitly mentioned the role of the CEO as being accountable for such programs.
The report, released on May 6, found that "there was a lack of clarity about who was in charge of the Football Department".
"A number of normal business processes were either not complied with, or too easily circumvented..."
And amongst its recommendations: "The CEO must be accountable for everything that happens within his organization".
Robson has previously made no public comment on the crisis or the report.
MORE TO COME
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