MELBOURNE, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Former Collingwood Magpies defender Heritier Lumumba is suing the club and the Australian Football League (AFL) over allegations of racist abuse during his playing days, state media reported on Friday.
Brazil-born Lumumba, who played 199 games for the Magpies from 2005-14, said on social media earlier this year he had endured a "culture of racist jokes" and was nicknamed "Chimp" while at the club. filed to the Supreme Court of Victoria state said Lumumba had "suffered loss, damage and injury including trauma, humiliation, distress, and loss of enjoyment," due to racist abuse, the Australia Broadcasting Corp reported.
The documents claimed the AFL had failed to take "reasonable steps" to prevent Lumumba from being subject to the abuse.
The AFL were unable to provide immediate comment.
Collingwood in June said it would investigate Lumumba's allegations and launched an independent review of the club's culture during his playing career at the Magpies. former players have come forward to verify Lumumba's allegation he was called 'Chimp'.
Coach Nathan Buckley, a former team mate of Lumumba who has been on the Collingwood staff since 2010, said in June he had never heard the nickname used but the club would conduct their investigation with "integrity."