[Update] The Football Club Guitarist Quits Band After Sexual Abuse Allegations Against Frontwoman

Update: The Football Club's Leah Romero has quit the band following the allegations made against the group's frontwoman, Ruby Markwell.

In a public statement, Romero said: 

"In light of the recent allegations I have decided to no longer continue with The Football Club.

"These allegations are incredibly serious and though have been vehemently denied, I will still be departing from the band. I believe that Ruby and everyone involved need to focus on resolving this situation through the appropriate channels, and that the band comes completely secondary to this.

"I will be donating 100% of my part of royalties and earnings from the band to The Royal Womens Hospital Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA House), who give support to victims of sexual assault."

Footscray band The Football Club have cancelled all upcoming performances, including a spot at Splendour In The Grass as the winner of a triple j Unearthed competition, in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse aimed at frontwoman Ruby Markwell.

The band were initially slated to still perform at the festival as Unearthed's competition winners even after the allegations became widespread on social media over the past few days; however, the band has since withdrawn from the spot, a move triple j says that it "believes is the right course of action at this time".

In their own statement, The Football Club has said that "for the time being, all future Football Club plans are put on hold".

"We won't be performing at Splendour in the Grass," Markwell wrote. "We were absolutely thrilled to be invited and would like to thank Splendour, and Triple J Unearthed for the opportunity.

"I strongly deny these allegations, and will be dealing with them through the appropriate channels."

The Football Club had released a previous statement asserting that the allegations are "untrue and defamatory", and that they were "designed to cause harm to the reputation of The Football Club and its members".

In the wake of that post, Adelaide outfit The Hard Aches, with whom The Football Club were slated to play at the Adelaide Unibar on Friday night, advised that the band would no longer be playing that show.

"We as a band feel very strongly about issues surrounding domestic violence, abuse and sexual assault, and until these issues are resolved we feel this is the best course of action," they wrote.

Both The Football Club and triple j faced criticism for perceived silencing of criticism by deleting comments posted to their respective Facebook pages; however, the station has since addressed the moderation, explaining it was necessary "to remove potentially defamatory posts, including criminal accusations".

"This issue is incredibly complex, and we have heard and listened to the complaints made," they wrote.

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