Revealed: Jeremy Finlayson’s disgusting homophobic slur targeted rival footy star as AFL calls for book to be thrown out at Port Adelaide

The AFL has been urged to ban Jeremy Finlayson after details surrounding his homophobic slur against a rival player emerged.

Footy’s governing body is expected to release its findings in the coming days into the incident that marred Gather Round, after Finlayson admitted making the comment during Port’s win over Essendon last weekend.

“I take full responsibility for what happened on Friday evening,” Finlayson said in a statement from Port Adelaide on Sunday.

The issue of homophobia in football – and the game’s response to it – is in the spotlight, with comparisons made to Alastair Clarkson’s outburst at St Kilda’s Jimmy Webster in pre-season.

In that incident, the North Melbourne coach was given a conditional suspension and a fine, but because there were rumors that Finlayson used the word ‘f*****’, a more serious sanction was demanded.

Finlayson admitted directing a homophobic slur at an opponent

“I think the AFL has run out of excuses and reasons (for not suspending him); I think Jeremy Finlayson will be suspended, and I think he should be suspended,” said Mark Robinson of Fox Footy.

The AFL could look to the NRL for a similar episode and draw their own conclusions. In 2022, NRL star Marcelo Montoya used the same slur against an opponent and was handed a four-week ban after pleading guilty.

Former Wests player Mitchell Moses also missed two games after making homophobic comments more than a decade ago.

“People at home can say, ‘It’s just words, it’s not 1974, it’s 2024’ – and the word he used is just unacceptable,” Robinson added.

‘I wrote to Gerard this evening, walk into a random workplace and used that work to describe your colleague, and find out how long you will have a job.

“There are a lot of gay players playing AFL and AFLW, including the Port Adelaide AFLW coach who is gay – and you have a Port Adelaide player using a gay slur.

‘I’m not the moral police, I’m far from it – but the AFL can’t preach inclusivity and preach all these things and say, ‘No, we’ll fine you $500′ – I just don’t think that’ll be right to be enough.’

Port Adelaide president David Koch found himself in hot water after appearing to defend Finlayson’s comment.

Calls are growing for the Port Adelaide star to be banned from the game

On Sunday, Koch appeared on ABC’s Offsiders program and left some fans fuming when asked about the severity of the punishment the league could impose.

He referred to the case of North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson, who was fined $20,000 and given a two-match ban for allegedly using the word “c**ks***er” in a heated argument with two St Kilda players during the match. preseason.

“If you look at comparisons, and there are benchmarks to be set, where a 55-year-old coach, with premeditation, focuses on the player and walks up to him, it’s very different from a player in the heat of the moment, when there were a lot of flaws in the game, the pressure – again, absolutely no excuse, I don’t condone it,” Koch said.

Power leader David Koch has been criticized for seemingly defending Finlayson

“But if you’re going to look at a comparison, that (Clarkson’s sentence) would be the benchmark.”

The former Sunrise host was then asked if he thought it was in the same category as Crows star Taylor Walker’s on-field racial slur from 2021, which saw him suspended for six games and fined $20,000.

“I don’t think that’s realistic… I think the benchmark has already been set (with the Clarkson incident).”

Footy fans criticized Koch, accusing him of trying to excuse Finlayson’s actions by saying that, like Clarkson, he did not deserve to miss games.