Gillon McLachlan has been viewed as a potential Brisbane 2032 chief executive ©Getty Images

Gillon McLachlan, the Australian Football League (AFL) boss tipped as a candidate to be Brisbane 2032's chief executive, may not leave the post at the end of the season as planned.

The AFL season concluded yesterday, but its final days have been overshadowed by harrowing allegations over the mistreatment of First Nations players by the club Hawthorn.

A review, obtained by ABC, found senior officials at Hawthorn coerced and bullied First Nations players into cutting off contact with their families, sought to separate couples and in one case demanded a player pressure their partner to get an abortion.

The AFL has said it will appoint an external four-person independent panel to investigate the findings, which came as the result of a review commissioned by Hawthorn.

Asked on the show AFL 360 whether he would stay on as chief executive for the duration of the investigation, McLachlan did not rule it out and told the hosts "I don't have an answer for you".

"I met with KCs [King's Counsel] and senior people today as part of the interview process for the panel, and asking how long they think it would take, and it’s months," McLachlan said.

It is more than 14 months since Brisbane won the right to stage the Olympics and Paralympics, but a chief executive is yet to be hired ©Getty Images
It is more than 14 months since Brisbane won the right to stage the Olympics and Paralympics, but a chief executive is yet to be hired ©Getty Images

"A couple of months.  

"You’ve got to run this to ground, people have to be available to talk, all of those things. 

"There’s certainly an issue about whether it would be appropriate for me to leave with this all afoot.  

"The allegations are that serious and it’s livelihoods that are at stake, and there are people who’ve suffered great trauma who need to be worked through this."

The Brisbane 2032 Board of Directors met for the first time in April and identified appointing a chief executive as a short-term goal.

It was described as "very, very key" by President Andrew Liveris, but no hire has yet followed.

McLachlan has been linked to the chief executive post repeatedly by Australian media.

Brisbane was awarded the Olympics more than a year ago, at the International Olympic Committee Session in July 2021.

By contrast, a chief executive for the Victoria 2026 Commonwealth Games - an event awarded to the state in April - has been in place since June.

Jeroen Weimar, who formerly led the state's response to the coronavirus crisis, is the Victoria 2026 chief executive.