Melbourne Folk-Punk band The Football Club have cancelled all upcoming events and placed the band on hold to deal with sexual assault allegations.
In a pair of statements in the last few days the band announced.
Hi, it’s Ruby here.
In light of recent events, for the time being, all future Football Club plans are put on hold. We won’t be performing at Splendour in the Grass. We were absolutely thrilled to be invited and would like to thank Splendour, and Triple J Unearthed for the opportunity.
I strongly deny these allegations, and will be dealing with them through the appropriate channels.
On Friday June 16 the band posted:
“Over the past 24 hours, certain parties have published untrue and defamatory statements relating to the conduct of members of The Football Club.
“These statements are without any foundation, designed to cause harm to the reputation of The Football Club and its members, and The Football Club absolutely deny them.
“As a victim of sexual assault, Ruby and the band find these claims horrifying in nature, and completely untrue in content. The band has worked tirelessly to be a voice for the LGBTQI community and for victims of sexual assault, and feel that these statements are an unjustified and unfair attempt to undermine their positive work. We’re pursuing these matters through official channels currently.
“We urge anyone who is the victim of assault to seek support and advice through the appropriate channels – http://www.sass.org.au/directory/”
The Footscray band describe their songs as “telling stories on topics like sexuality, gender, friendship, and cheap red wine”.
The Football Club were due to play at Splendour In The Grass after winning the triple j unearthed contest.
