Call for the AFL to do more to stamp out homophobia
Advocated are calling for the AFL to be more proactive about stamping out homophobia. In the wake of another slur which has seen suns player Wil Powell banned for five matches.
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00:00The AFL says that there are no excuses for this type of conduct within Aussie rules and
00:06this is the third instance of homophobia so far this season after Port Adelaide player
00:13Jeremy Finlayson was suspended for three games for using a homophobic slur and also coach
00:19Alistair Clarkson was fined $20,000 for making offensive statements towards two St Kilda
00:26players.
00:27We've heard from the AFL's General Counsel Stephen Mead who says that it's incredibly
00:32disappointing that this Powell slur came just a matter of weeks after the Finlayson incident
00:38and he says Powell's five game suspension reflects the AFL's deep concern about the
00:45proximity of these two incidents happening at such a short time from each other and also
00:51to deter any future offences.
00:53We've heard from Powell who has said that he made a terrible mistake, that he says that
00:59he's very remorseful by what he said.
01:01He apologised to the Brisbane Lions player last Sunday and also he told club officials
01:08during the game immediately what he had done and we've also heard from other advocates
01:14calling for cultural change including Hayley Conway who is the CEO of Pride Cup and she
01:22says that there needs to be much more widespread cultural change not just in the AFL but in
01:28all sports across Australia.
01:31The issue we're trying to address is a cultural and systemic one rather than something that
01:35is about individual problems and so Will is acting in an environment that has tolerated
01:40that behaviour for a long time but what we want to see is widespread change where everyone
01:44takes responsibility for creating an environment that's more welcoming.
01:49Hayley Conway the CEO of Pride Cup there and she says part of that structural change
01:54needs to be internal education sessions for administrators all the way from grassroots
01:59level which is where this homophobia often takes hold all the way up to the top administrators
02:05of the game and she says that when they've worked with grassroots footy clubs they've
02:10been able to show that there's a 40-50% reduction in homophobia simply by doing some of these
02:16education sessions and also introducing a pride round.