Charles, Schwarz in racial meeting
By Michael Horan
Wednesday, July 19, 2000
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MEDIATION today will hopefully resolve the alleged racial vilification issue between Melbourne forward David Schwarz and St Kilda's Sean Charles.
Both men have apparently agreed to today's conciliatory talks.
If the pair walks away satisfied, the issue will end. Otherwise, tribunal charges could be laid.
The twist to this incident is just who has vilified who?
Schwarz is believed to have complained to a field umpire about Charles, his Demon teammate for six seasons, calling him a racist during Sunday's Melbourne-St Kilda clash at Colonial Stadium.
The umpire duly notified AFL investigations officer Rick Lewis of the complaint.
However, Charles supposedly accused Schwarz because he believed the Demon big man had earlier racially vilified him.
The AFL has dealt with several racial vilification cases in the past few seasons, but this is the first where each player is accusing the other.
No club official would comment on the situation because of heavy fines imposed on anyone violating the confidentiality of seeking resolution through reconciliation.
Last season St Kilda ruckman Peter Everitt went through the reconciliation process after racially vilifying Melbourne's Scott Chisholm.
Everitt later made a public apology and imposed a four-match suspension on himself.
This season Western Bulldogs pair Tony Liberatore and Nathan Brown were fined $2000 each for using insulting language to West Coast forward Fraser Gehrig.
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