Racial taunting from AFL fans at Adelaide Oval continues to defy pleas by Crows and Power players

ADELAIDE Oval is again in the limelight for the wrong reasons as the venue’s fans are accused of racial taunting. Michelangelo Rucci calls on the AFL to make a stronger stand.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH ... Richmond defender Bachar Houli was subjected to racial taunting at Adelaide Oval on Sunday evening, a month after Crows and Power players united to declare they would not tolerate racism in sport or society. Picture: Sarah Reed (The Advertiser)

• Fan says Houli abused
• Only so much AFL can do: Thomas
• Port, Crows unite against racism
• Betts says thanks for support

ENOUGH is enough. How long will it take this message against racism — from the united Port Adelaide and Crows players — to sink in?

A month has passed since Adelaide Oval was the dubious focal point of the AFL stage — and the Australian news cycle — for the racial taunting of Crows forward Eddie Betts and Port Adelaide ruckman Patrick Ryder.

The image on the front page of The Advertiser of the two SA-based AFL clubs standing united, side-by-side saying “Enough is enough” on racism reiterated (sadly, it needed to be said yet again) that the players will not tolerate vilifying anyone on race, religion and culture.

But what of the fans on the terraces?

As The Advertiser noted during the fallout from the Showdown, the real test of a zero-tolerance policy would be when Adelaide Oval was dominated by one supporter base.

Would the Power and Crows fans, when surrounded by their own, stand up to challenge those they have known as “neighbours” in their seats at Football Park or Adelaide Oval for the past three decades? Or would they repeatedly turn deaf?

Would they excuse “John”, the guy who has sat behind them for 20 years, as making an “out of character” remark? Or “Jane” as the comment was said in the “heat of the moment”?

It certainly happened at Adelaide Oval on Sunday evening when the Crows hosted Richmond. Not only was there the insensitive remark towards Tigers defender Bachar Houli — as reported in The Advertiser — that “he should be playing for the Bombers”, there was another questioning why the devout Muslim was not wearing a towel on his head.

As Crows chief executive Andrew Fagan would say, this is abhorrent behaviour that has no place in the AFL nor Australian society.

But will the fans say it? Will they draw the line against racism by joining the Crows and Power players in saying “Enough is enough”?

Or will they reiterate that the spectator bays at Adelaide Oval are not for political correctness and the AFL’s social agenda?

And that the remarks towards Houli were made in jest and should not be taken as an insult to his religion?

The AFL has put itself at the forefront of fighting racism in the past two decades, earning a place before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in January 2011 when Crows hero Andrew McLeod made his speech “about combating racism through sport”.

McLeod said: “No longer do we get called racist names on the field by opposing players like our predecessor brothers did from the spectators over the fence it has become a thing of the past.”

Yes, the fight has been won on the field. No, it has not over the fence.

And the challenge is before the AFL to take action.

This should start with Round 19 at the end of July — “Multicultural Round”.

The AFL should follow the lead from world football by having every seat at all nine games in this round carry a T-shirt declaring, “Racism stops with me” and work the Crows-Power theme, “Enough is enough”.

Let’s see who is prepared to wear this theme?

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