Collingwood are investigating premiership player Heritier Lumumba's claims he was racially abused during his 10 seasons at the AFL club.
The Magpies' integrity committee is looking into the defender's allegations he was nicknamed the "chimp" and the club didn't support him.
Collingwood director Peter Murphy is chairing the committee, with chief executive Mark Anderson also part of the inquiry.
Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley has reached out to Lumumba but hasn't heard back from him.
The club said it will continue to attempt to make contact with Lumumba in the hope he will assist the committee in better understanding the allegations.
The retired 33-year-old is after a public acknowledgement about his allegations of being treated unfairly while at the Magpies before sitting down with Buckley.
Collingwood director Jodie Sizer said the club understood Lumumba's claims are serious and wanted to treat them as such.
"As a board we have come together and unanimously agreed we need to take action," she said.
"From my perspective the whole of Australia is on an important journey as it deals with racism, the impacts of racism and considers what, as a nation, we want to be and are to become.
"Collingwood is also on its own journey and important to both quests is truth telling.
"Understanding the truth, owning the truth and supporting those in sharing their truths is a key next step for any action.
Lubumba, who now lives in Los Angeles, has detailed on social media his alleged experiences at the Magpies, claiming he endured a "culture of racist jokes" and took magic mushrooms to cope with the situation.
Born to a Brazillian mother and Congolese father, Lumumba made his debut with Collingwood in 2005, under the anglicised name Harry O'Brien.
He was the AFL's first multicultural ambassador and in 2010, he won a premiership with the Magpies and was named in the AFL's All Australian team.
In 2013, Lumumba spoke out against club president Eddie McGuire, following comments made on radio linking Swans player Adam Goodes to the King Kong stage show.
"It doesn't matter if you are a school teacher, a doctor or even the president of my football club I will not tolerate racism, nor should we as a society," he tweeted.
"Im [sic] extremely disappointed with Eddie's comments and do not care what position he holds, I disagree with what came out [of] his mouth this morning on radio.”
Lumumba alleges he was "ostracized internally" for those remarks.
He left Collingwood at the end of 2014 before finishing his 223-game career with Melbourne.
