Indigenous Dockers AFL stars Michael Walters and Nathan Wilson cop racist and homophobic abuse
Indigenous Dockers stars Michael Walters and Nathan Wilson cop ‘abhorrent’ racist and homophobic slurs just a day after Izak Rankine was disgusted by a hateful slur
- Duo reported defamation after losing to Crows
- Came on the heels of Rankine abuse
- Dockers CEO called those responsible ‘pathetic’
Two Fremantle players have been targeted on social media with racist and homophobic slurs as the scourge of the game intensifies.
Indigenous duo Michael Walters and Nathan Wilson both reported abusive comments to the Dockers following their loss to Adelaide on Saturday, with the club criticizing the ‘abhorrent and archaic’ treatment of its players.
The latest installment comes just a day after Adelaide star Izak Rankine received a vicious message on Instagram from an account with no followers and no posts – a sign of an account set up with the intention of abusing players.
Wilson was attacked online by a similar account on April 2 and again on Saturday, and like Rankine, shared the post in disgust on his Instagram story.
Nathan Wilson (pictured right, in action against Adelaide’s Ben Keays on Saturday) shared the post on his Instagram story, labeling the tease of the game as ‘shameful’
‘What do you have to do to stop these kind of people. Shameful,” Wilson wrote.
Fremantle CEO Simon Garlick said the people who continued to attack AFL players from behind fake social media profiles were ‘pathetic’.
“This unnecessary and abhorrent abuse must not happen; it saddens me, and everyone at our club, that it is,” Garlick said.
“Individuals hiding behind fake accounts to hurt others are pathetic and we need to be able to curb this possibility on social platforms.
In the meantime, I urge fans to use this conversation to utter racial and homophobic slurs for the repugnant and archaic discourse it is.
“It has no place in our game or our community…enough is enough.”
Michael Walters also reported abuse to the Dockers after the weekend loss to the Crows, leading Fremantle CEO Simon Garlick to call those responsible ‘pathetic’
Adelaide’s Izak Rankine (pictured) got a nasty message on Instagram
The messages to the Fremantle duo and Rankine follow a series of in-game racism scandals, with Western Bulldogs striker Jamarra Ugle-Hagan making vile comments while playing against St Kilda in Round 2.
The AFL Integrity Unit said last month it was working with St Kilda to identify the perpetrator and ban them from the game.
The AFLIU was also investigating Rankine’s abuse with the Crows, a league spokesman said.
“The AFL condemns in the strongest possible manner the hurtful and abhorrent racist remarks made over social media against one of the Adelaide Crows players this weekend,” they said.
“We stand with the club in expressing the racist comments; comments that cause considerable pain and harm to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“The AFLIU has been approached by the Adelaide Crows and will now provide support to those affected and investigate the matter, working to identify the person involved.”