The AFL will appoint an independent panel to probe serious allegations of racism and bullying that have emerged against Hawthorn football club leaders.

They include an allegation by one former Hawthorn player that he was told by the club’s then coach Alastair Clarkson to terminate his partner’s pregnancy.

Three Indigenous families involved at Hawthorn during Clarkson’s period as coach between 2005-21 have told the ABC they were allegedly bullied and told to choose between their football careers and their families.

Hawthorn earlier this year commissioned an external review into claims of racism at the club during Clarkson’s tenure as coach.

The external review document was given to Hawthorn hierarchy and the AFL’s integrity unit a fortnight ago.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said the league had received the report and would “wilfully investigate what has been shared”.

“These are serious allegations. It is important that we treat them appropriately while also ensuring a formal process provides support to those impacted and also natural justice to those people who are accused,” he said on Wednesday.

“This is a process that is appropriate, that is held independent of a normal AFL integrity department response.

“As such, we are appointing an external independent panel that will be made up of four people, led by an eminent king’s council.”

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McLachlan said the make-up of the panel would be finalised within a day.

“We need to run a proper investigation to get to the bottom of it and this is important, out of respect for those making the allegations and out of respect for those being accused,” he said.

“We need to provide natural justice and allow the process to go on, but we will seek to have the panel in place and work with the Hawthorn football club to develop the report of the players and partners involved to engage with them, to expedite it and not extend the trauma.”

Hawthorn said earlier the review “raised disturbing historical allegations that require further investigation”.

“Upon learning of these allegations, the club immediately engaged AFL integrity as is appropriate,” a club statement on Wednesday said.

“The club will continue to provide support to those who have participated in this process and their wellbeing remains our priority.

“While the process indicated the current environment at the club is culturally safe, it also recommended that some of the club’s current First Nations training and development programs should continue to be strengthened.

“Given the matters raised are confidential, the club will not provide any further comment at this time.”

AFL Players’ Association chief executive Paul Marsh said he was “extremely concerned” at the report.

“We have spoken to the AFL and communicated our expectations that an independent investigation must be conducted,” Marsh said in a statement.

“It should also be well-resourced and wide-ranging in scope.”

The ABC reported the document included allegations of key Hawthorn figures demanding the separation of young Indigenous players from their partners.

One couple was pressured to terminate a pregnancy for the sake of the player’s career, the ABC said.

The player told the ABC a group of coaches including head coach Clarkson and and his then senior assistant coach Chris Fagan urged to have his partner’s pregnancy terminated, break up with his partner, and move into the home of an assistant coach.

McLachlan said the AFL had done much in recent times to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, including installing Indigenous player development managers in each club.

“We need to do more. And we will,” he said.

“We need greater safety and education across our game, and we will do that.

“Tanya [Hosch], the EGM of inclusion of social policy and her team, will continue to be a part of that work.

“So many people are hurting today and have been hurting for a long time, and to all of them, I want to acknowledge that hurt, and, as a game, we’ll do everything to ensure that the hurt you experienced is not a hurt that is experienced by others.”

Clarkson last month was appointed as North Melbourne’s coach on a five-year contract, starting in November, while Fagan has been the Brisbane Lions’ head coach since 2017.

“Clarkson just leaned over me and demanded that I needed to get rid of my unborn child and my partner,” the player told the ABC.

“I was then manipulated and convinced to remove my SIM card from my phone so there was no further contact between my family and me.

“They told me I’d be living with one of the other coaches from that night onwards.”

The player’s partner detailed a meeting with Hawthorn’s then player development manager Jason Burt.

“Jason had repeatedly told me that [the player] had made these decisions on his own but I knew there was more to it,” she told the ABC.

“Burt actually confirmed my thoughts when he said Hawthorn had decided it was better for [his] footy career if he didn’t become a father.

“They just wanted him to move on from his family and focus on football.”

She didn’t terminate the pregnancy and said only at the five-month mark of the pregnancy was the player allowed by the club to return to his family, the report said.

-with AAP