Club Pittsworth condemns video of racial slur hurled during Toowoomba Rugby League match on its grounds

A not-for-profit club that owns the grounds at the centre of a shocking racial slur incident last week has issued a statement, saying it would be taking disciplinary action against the person involved.

The small town’s community club whose ground was the scene of a shocking act of racial abuse at a footy game has condemned the incident, adding it will take disciplinary action against the person involved.

Club Pittsworth, which owns the town’s sporting fields on Short Street and has an affiliation with the Pittsworth Danes rugby league club, released a statement saying it was committed to “eliminate racism” from sport and the wider community.

It comes after footage emerged of a man appearing to shout “shut up you b---- c---” at a player on the field over the loudspeaker during a Toowoomba Rugby League match between Pittsworth and Gatton Saturday August 6.

The video has sparked outrage across the Toowoomba community, with indigenous players, officials and volunteers calling for the TRL to issue a life ban.

In the statement to The Chronicle, Club Pittsworth manager Kelly Jackson said the organisation did not tolerate discrimination of any kind.

“Club Pittsworth is a not-for-profit organisation which employs a number of people with members of their family from a variety of nationalities and races,” she said.

“We are truly saddened by the event that happened on the weekend and as a community club we wish to reassure every one of our stance that we do not condone racial discrimination in all its forms.

“We believe the issue that has occurred from this event only highlights the need to further educate people on ways to eliminate racism from within our community.

“To the people that were directly affected by these remarks, we express our disappointment and sorrow for these actions.”

Ms Jackson said the club had issued penalties to club members in the past for behavioural issues and would do so again following the incident.

“In the past we have had to issue penalty notices for breaches of our expectations at the club which further supports our stance against any forms of violence or discrimination,” she said.

“Had we been made aware of the situation on the day, the parties involved would have been escorted from our grounds and then the process of determining what disciplinary actions would have commenced much earlier.

“We will be following the disciplinary action closely so that we can place our on sanctions on the parties involved.

“Club Pittsworth is a community, family driven club with a volunteer committee that spends countless hours providing a safe, non-discriminatory environment for anyone to enjoy amazing food and beverages.”

It comes three days after the Pittsworth Danes released its own statement, which said it did not condone the incident or the remarks made.

Brothers rugby league club president and proud indigenous woman Lizzie Adams spoke passionately about the incident during Saturday’s game between her club and Newtown.

“It’s about reconciliation in our game, it obviously shows we’ve got a lot of hard work to do and we’re going to do that together as we’ve seen,” she told the crowd.

“All of our clubs are united in solidarity to be able to do that, and take with you from the game today that there is no room for racism in our game.”

Originally published as Club Pittsworth condemns video of racial slur hurled during Toowoomba Rugby League match on its grounds