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North Melbourne premiership great Barry Cable will be removed from the Australian Football Hall of Fame

The AFL Commission is set to make the unprecedented decision to remove Barry Cable from the Australian Football Hall of Fame in the wake of his historical sexual abuse ruling.

Barry Cable child sex abuse lawsuit (Nine News)

Barry Cable will be stripped of his legend status and be booted from the Hall of Fame in the wake of the historical sexual abuses he was found to have committed.

The unprecedented decision will be set in motion after next Tuesday’s Australian Football Hall of Fame dinner.

Preceding the dinner, the AFL Commission will meet and among the agenda items will be Cable’s eligibility.

Afterwards, the commission is certain to officially write to Cable and inform him he will be stripped of football’s highest honour.

It’s understood friends of Cable have urged him to resign before the official commission decision.

Barry Cable will be booted from the AFL Hall of Fame. Picture: The Australian
Barry Cable will be booted from the AFL Hall of Fame. Picture: The Australian

Cable, 79, is one of the sport’s most decorated players, having played 379 senior games for Perth, North Melbourne and East Perth.

He was awarded legend status in 2012.

Cable last week was found to have sexually abused a Perth girl for five years from the age of 12, starting at or around 1970.

Four other women also gave evidence during the civil trial that Cable sexually abused them as teenage girls.

On the day of the court ruling, the AFL Commission approved a rule change which would allow the Australian football Hall of Fame to suspend or revoke membership of the game’s greats.

AFL spokesman Jay Allen said on Tuesday: “The AFL has recently updated its Hall of Fame Charter and from June 27 (when it takes effect) the AFL commission it will consider its course of action regarding this matter”.

That ruling was made so the commission could act decisively on Cable.

Western Australian judge Mark Herron ruled on Friday in favour of the woman, awarding her $818,700 in damages.

Originally published as North Melbourne premiership great Barry Cable will be removed from the Australian Football Hall of Fame

Original URL: https://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/afl/news/north-melbourne-premiership-great-barry-cable-will-be-removed-from-the-afl-hall-of-fame/news-story/b7a5bfa8c220e63e91ef49d6255c3df5