- In 2023, sixteen lifetime bans were handed out to AFL fans
- Comes as the code tackles blight in the game
- NRL and Football Australia are also taking action on the issue
With racism still a major talking point in Australian sport, it can now be revealed that the AFL issued 16 lifetime bans on ‘fans’ last season after they were found guilty of racially assaulting players in stadiums across the country.
The AFL Integrity Unit investigated all 16 incidents and later confirmed that none had occurred on social media – all were personal.
And following the ugly saga in the Las Vegas NRL between Roosters enforcer Spencer Leniu and Broncos young gun Ezra Mam, Sports Integrity Australia boss David Sharpe has called on several leaders within the sport to take the issue seriously when athletes defame their opponents.
“We are seeing strong messages being sent to fans and crowds found guilty of racist comments with lengthy sentences,” Sharpe said The age.
‘The same sanctions (in my opinion) should apply to athletes. Australian sports leaders and sponsors must send a message to the world ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games. The world is watching.
With racism still a big talking point among footy fans, it can now be revealed that the AFL last season issued 16 lifetime bans on ‘fans’ found to be guilty of racially assaulting players in stadiums across the country (pictured, AFL supporters of the Giants and Bulldogs)
In March last year, Western Bulldogs AFL star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan (pictured) confirmed he was subjected to racist abuse by a St Kilda fan during a match.
Roosters enforcer Spencer Leniu has been suspended for eight weeks for his racist attack on Ezra Mam in Las Vegas on March 3
NRL great Johnathan Thurston felt the game ‘failed’ Mam after Leniu’s eight-match ban
“Eradicating racism in sport is a legacy we can be proud of.”
SIA’s culture and safety adviser Patrick Johnson – a former champion indigenous sprinter – said Australia needs to “draw a clear line in the sand”.
“We are all responsible for exposing racism,” he said. ‘We will not tolerate it in our sport, now and in the future.
“Our children deserve better because this does not represent our Australian way of life.”
On Monday night, the NRL judge handed Leniu an eight-week ban after he called Mam a ‘monkey’ – and in March last year Western Bulldogs AFL star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan confirmed he was subjected to racist abuse during a match by a St. Kilda fan. .
The most recent AFL player to be banned for racial slurs was Adelaide’s Taylor Walker, who was handed a six-week ban in 2021 after comments during a South Australian state competition match.
It also comes as the AFL faces a new class action alleging historical racism against North Melbourne’s indigenous Krakouer brothers, Jim and Phil, in the 1980s.
The class action – recently filed in the Victorian Supreme Court – claims the Krakouers have been defamed by identities including former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy, who has denied the allegations.
The AFL has vowed to fight the class action, saying it disagrees with the claim that the VFL/AFL was negligently conducted.
The class action is open to more than 1,000 former VFL/AFL players who are Indigenous or People of Color and their families, and has been brought by Margalit Injury Lawyers, the firm behind a separate class action against the AFL.