Waleed Aly and AFL match made in heaven
WALEED Aly has taken a break from telling us how racist Australia is to consult with the AFL on footy rule changes. The question is why he was invited at all, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
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FOOTBALL fans everywhere should be grateful that Waleed Aly took a break from telling us how racist Australia is and why terrorism is a mere “irritant” to consult with the AFL on footy rule changes.
Imagine how much better our game will be when a terrorism “expert” who struggles to work out the ideology behind Boko Haram’s reign of terror (spoiler: it’s radical Islam) and speculated that the Boston bombings were the work of “self-styled American patriots” (spoiler: it was radical Islam) turns his attention to the ruck nomination rule or reducing congestion in the game.
In a peculiar radio interview, following the Herald Sun report that the “AFL had confirmed the Gold Logie winner had been part of a series of one-off meetings with football operations boss Stephen Hocking and league analyst David Rath which were designed to help generate new rules ideas and discussions on the state of the game”, Aly denied he was consulted then explained precisely how he was consulted.
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“Some of the things the AFL presented and the data presented and the thinking they have done particularly around things like length of the goal square was impressive,” he said. “I walked away going ‘OK, I understand what they are aiming at and why they’re thinking that will all work’.
“I don’t think they were particularly interested in any suggestions I might have had … I’d be extremely surprised if I exerted any influence at all.”
Whether he was consulted or briefed is largely irrelevant; the question is why the AFL invited Aly to discuss new rule ideas.
Does Hocking have so much time on his hands that he can sit down with co-hosts of a non-sports program? Has Tracey Grimshaw been offered a briefing? After all, Grimshaw single-handedly hosts a program with a far bigger audience. Why wasn’t Australia’s most-read columnist Andrew Bolt invited in? Sure, Bolt has never dressed up as a mascot but he loves the game and has been a passionate Tigers fan for decades.
What about asking cricket great Shane Warne, who not only loves footy but played at a decent level?
Warne mocked the AFL for conferring with Aly on rule changes, tweeting: “I love #AFL football like so many other people — please tell me this is fake news & that this arrogant cretin is in no way involved on any level!!!”
I love #AFL football like so many other people - please tell me this is fake news & that this arrogant cretan is in no way way involved on any level !!! pic.twitter.com/LPKArJmRb3
— Shane Warne (@ShaneWarne) August 20, 2018
Admittedly, footy world stalwarts Gerard Healy, Mike Sheahan and Malcolm Blight were among those who were also called in by the AFL for a rules meeting tête-à-tête.
But of course the AFL loves pandering to the Left and has wholeheartedly embraced divisive identity politics.
The league is also renowned for developing its fanboys and girls in the media who dutifully regurgitate what they are told.
Those reporters and commentators who insist on doing their jobs without fear or favour have been punished by the AFL who have resorted to withdrawing accreditation, even pressuring media outlets to sack highly critical personalities; and then there are the petty penalties of not extending invitations to events such as the Brownlow and All-Australian awards.
For the most profitable football code in the country, the AFL’s professionalism, transparency and accountability leaves much to be desired.
In that sense Aly is a perfect fit for the AFL given his talent for being consistently and spectacularly wrong on just about every topic from Australia Day to law and order to Islamist terror.
Aly on Australia Day: “Australia Day as a simple, untainted celebration of the country’s achievements is finished. But what’s next?”
Reality: A 2017 poll commissioned by The Guardian showed that only 6 per cent of Australians felt negatively towards Australia Day.
Aly on Boko Haram: “They’re a really, really hard group to define because they are so splintered and so diverse.”
Reality: They are a militant jihadist group motivated by radical Islam, aligned to Islamic State, which has slaughtered thousands of innocent people.
Aly on Islamic State genocide: “But there is no genocide happening right now, we don’t need to prevent genocide by supporting the Iraqi military to re-establish control of Iraq, do we?”
Reality: Islamic State slaughtered thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands, a point that Labor’s Tanya Plibersek made to Aly in the strongest terms. “We’re only talking about mass atrocity crimes and we shouldn’t worry, is that the proposition you’re making?” she said.
Aly on Sudanese crime: “Take aggravated burglaries … look at the raw numbers and you realise you are talking about just 70 incidents over the entire year.”
Reality: Sudanese-born people make up only 0.11 per cent of the Victorian population — that means they are close to 40 times more likely to commit an aggravated burglary than non-Sudanese citizens. How can that not be a significant problem?
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist.
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