The Sydney Swans have apologised after removing a reference to the Jewish community from their tribute to the victims of the Bondi terror attack, held before the AFL season opener against Carlton.

The club says it was attempting to use “inclusive language”, referencing all of those involved in the attack – the overwhelmingly Jewish victims, but also bystanders who acted heroically and first responders to the scene — when CEO Matthew Pavlich spoke before the Opening Round match.

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Pavlich took responsibility and confirmed the AFL had not told the club to remove a direct reference to the Jewish community.

“Whilst we didn’t specifically reference the Jewish community in the script, this was in the context of those people that were on the field with us that evening, which included many of the brave first responders, community heroes, and of course, those impacted the most, the Jewish community. And it was through that lens in which we finalised the words spoken,” the Fremantle great said.

“We apologised on Saturday night for this, and we do so again today. To be very clear, there was no directive from the AFL to remove reference to the Jewish community in the script, and we’ve never suggested this was the case.”

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He added: “I own it, as a CEO, that’s on me, I take full responsibility. We were workshopping it, clearly, and as I said, it was about trying to be as inclusive as we could for many people affected as of the tragedy of 14 December.”

The club further explained how the mention was removed in a statement on Monday.

“The Sydney Swans initiated a pre-game Bondi Tribute to honour the lives lost in the terror attack and to stand with the Jewish Community,” the Swans said.

“As we mentioned on Saturday night, in statements from both our Chairman and CEO, we were made aware that our on-field tribute neglected to specifically name the Jewish Community. We apologised for this omission and have taken full responsibility for it.

“The tribute was a heartfelt attempt to show compassion to everyone impacted by the terrible events on 14 December, and most of all the Jewish Community.

“As we stated the day after the attack, our football club stands with the Jewish Community.

“There was no directive or instruction from the AFL to remove or change the reference to the Jewish Community in the script.

“That script change was made within our club in a genuine effort to use inclusive language by referring to the ‘whole community’. Noting that the focus of the script was to recognise those people present on field on the night. This included members of the Jewish Community, community heroes and first responders.

“We acknowledge that was an error of judgement and again we apologise.”

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The incident has led to federal Liberal senator James Paterson asking the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion to investigate.

Paterson first accused the AFL of “insulting the families of the victims” before correcting his statement when the Swans stated the league was not involved.

However the senator’s call has been contrasted by leading members of the Jewish community publicly proclaiming their support for the Swans, with NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip saying the Royal Commission must focus on true matters of antisemitism.

“The royal commission is charged with addressing serious and substantive issues of antisemitism in this country. The tribute by the Sydney Swans to the Jewish community and the victims of the Bondi terrorist attack – as well as the care extended to the Jewish community more broadly over the past three months – was motivated by the purest of intent and warrants gratitude, not sanction,” Ossip said.

“This is particularly the case after (Swans chairman) Andrew Pridham’s strong and unambiguous clarifying remarks on Saturday night.”

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Rabbi Mendy Litzman, who was at the SCG on the night and aware of the criticism about the speech’s contents, also praised the Swans.

He said the club had made his Jewish community emergency medical response group Hatzolah feel welcome at the season opener.

“I want to thank the Swans for welcoming us in and making us feel really welcome and special. We had survivors there as well (at the game) and we had those children there as well that were affected by it and some children that no longer have parents,” he said.

“They were extremely welcoming and so very, very nice to us, and we thank them from the bottom of our heart, and it meant a lot to us and to everybody … they treated us like VIPs, and it was very nice to welcome us into the locker room after the game as well.

“We only had praise for the Swans, so what they did was definitely above and beyond what we expected. They provided kosher food, and they literally went above and beyond.”

Pavlich thanked the Jewish groups who had shown their support for the club.

“We’ve had the NSW Premier’s Department, we’ve had the NSW Jewish community, and representatives from their department, both on the night, on Saturday night, both last Thursday, and again today, be very supportive of us,” he said.

“We acknowledge that that won’t necessarily be the case for everybody. But, hopefully, they understand it’s from the lens that we were coming from, (which) was to include everyone on the night, clearly the Jewish community because they were the ones most impacted by this, but also many other people who were involved in the tragedy.”