Jordan De Goey has issued a statement on images of him in Bali that appeared on Friday evening.
De Goey, with Collingwood on a 12-day break with his dismissal in Round 14, decided to leave for Bali to take a mid-season break earlier this week.
Then came images of him partying in a nightclub and making indecent gestures in front of a camera.
The decision to go abroad during a crucial point in his contract negotiations was criticized by Kane Cornes and Liam Pickering, but De Goey has defended his actions.
He has called for a change in the way athletes are treated in the media.
Collingwood has yet to deal with the images, only to say that they will comment more over time.
Read De Goey’s full statement posted on Instagram below
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my family, friends, and supporters who have signed up or sent messages of support over the past 24 hours.
I want to openly address the relentless persecution and persecution of athletes by the media to create an uneducated, biased, and ill-informed narrative that has gone too far. I’m one of the lucky ones with amazing support, but not all athletes are so lucky.
This will end in tragedy if no one speaks.
It’s time for a change.