The AFL is "asking questions" about who leaked the contents of Hawthorn's First Nations welfare review, CEO Gillon McLachlan says.
The independent panel set up to investigate claims of racism at the Hawks between 2008 and 2016 was disbanded last month, and no adverse findings under AFL rules were found against former coach Alastair Clarkson, former football manager Chris Fagan or welfare manager Jason Burt.
Clarkson, Fagan and Burt have strenuously denied any wrongdoing in connection with the claims from the start.
However, four-time Hawthorn premiership star Cyril Rioli has since revealed himself as one of the six complainants who have vowed to take their case to the Human Rights Commission.
When announcing the end of the AFL's official probe, outgoing League CEO Gillon McLachlan's dismay at the how the allegations first surfaced via an ABC news report last September was clear.
"The parties acknowledge that the manner in which their allegations were leaked to the media was not in any party's best interests," McLachlan read out in an AFL statement.
On Friday, McLachlan said he was determined to get to the bottom of the leak.
"I'd really like to know because I think it's sort of caused a lot of angst and a lot of pain," McLachlan told 3AW radio.
"Yeah, we're asking some questions.
"I think it'd be a pretty implausible scenario, though, that the AFL would leak something like that.
"I think the way it leaked put everyone in a more vulnerable position - the complainants, the defendants, the club, the League."
After being shocked by the contents of the Binmada Report into the welfare of First Nations players, conducted by former VFL player Phil Egan, Hawthorn management informed the AFL about the claims.
Before the AFL or Hawthorn could respond to the harrowing allegations, the ABC published a report just days before last year's Grand Final.
McLachlan said the initial leak of the report's contents had made it difficult for any investigation to be successful.
"Once that report was leaked and the people [against] whom the allegations were made, it was always going to be an incredibly difficult situation to get to the bottom of," he said.
"I think for the defendants it's clear there has not been a breach of the AFL rules. The complainants are parties to the agreement, they are happy with the process, and they have the opportunity, if they want, to pursue their rights in other forums.
"People can take this wherever they want, but it's the end of the independent investigation that came out of the report that was handed to us."
