Willie Rioli targeted by racist trolls on social media after Port Adelaide loss to Collingwood

Racist trolls who sent messages to Port Adelaide star Junior Rioli face lifetime bans as the Power boss says the hurtful abuse has left an ugly stain on one of the games of the season.

The AFL will launch an investigation after Port Adelaide forward Willie Rioli was sent multiple racist messages after a loss to Collingwood on Saturday night.

Power chief executive Matthew Richardson on Sunday made a plea directed to football fans that “we have to be better” and said that Rioli was hurting following the messages.

The AFL’s integrity unit will kick off an investigation after Rioli shared multiple abusive messages from several separate accounts on Instagram in the hours following the loss of the top-of-the-table blockbuster, along with the caption of “smart guys”.

Rioli’s post made clear the accounts of the people who sent the messages, and those people will face life bans as part of the AFL investigation.

Several of those accounts were removed from Instagram by Sunday afternoon.

Richardson said he was “not aware” the people behind the accounts had been identified yet.

Collingwood, Port Adelaide and the AFL condemned the messages on Sunday, and Richardson said “it is incredibly disappointing”.

“The club is supporting the AFL and Collingwood in investigating this matter,” he said.

“The reality is, it was a fantastic game of football last night and this issue just taints that. We have to be better as a society and a community and we will do whatever we can to use our platform to call out this reprehensible behaviour.

“Clearly it hurts. It is not just Willie, it is his family and the broader AFL family and all the First Nations players and their families. We just need to be better.”

Willie Rioli was targeted by racist abuse on social media. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Rioli was involved in a final quarter, off-the-ball incident with Magpie defender Nathan Murphy, in which Power forward appeared to connect with Murphy high but with an open hand.

He was on Sunday handed a two-match suspension for striking as a result.

The vile messages sent to Rioli, 28, appeared to be a reaction to the Murphy incident.

The AFL announced in May that fans found guilty by the league of racial vilification would be handed lifetime bans from going to AFL games, with multiple fans already hit with that penalty in 2023.

Collingwood chief executive Craig Kelly said in a strong statement the Magpies would not accept racism.

“The Collingwood Football Club strongly condemns the abhorrent and disgusting racist remarks directed towards Willie Rioli,” Kelly said.

“All of us have a responsibility to call out this behaviour and our club is committed to playing a role in educating as many members of the wider community as possible.”

Collingwood has condemned the racist abuse directed at Rioli. Picture: James Elsby/AFL Photos via Getty Images.

Rioli was on the end of further racist abuse through social media after a win over Essendon in May, which Port Adelaide said left the West Coast premiership player “distressed”.

Richardson said he was unsure of the result of an investigation into that instance of abuse and bemoaned the fact he was left to discuss racism again.

“Unfortunately, this issue keeps coming up, it keeps happening and we need to be better,” Richardson said.

“It is incredibly disappointing. It causes serious hurt and harm to people and I just don’t even understand it. I don’t understand what goes through people’s minds that they think it’s OK. It’s not.”

Several other players have copped racist remarks online this season, including Dogs star Jamarra Ugle-Hagan, Adelaide livewire Izak Rankine and Fremantle pair Michael Walters and Nathan Wilson.