AFL bans nine supporters for life for racially abusing players

The AFL has come down hard on fans who have racially abused players from the stands, hitting them with life bans in a major statement from the league.

The AFL has banned nine fans for life for racist abuse.

The AFL has banned nine footy fans from attending games for life this season, after launching a crackdown on fans racially abusing players from the stands.

The Saturday Herald Sun can also reveal the league is investigating a further five fans for racially abusing players.

The AFL this season began a zero-tolerance approach towards racist fans and has appointed a full-time investigator who will probe reports of racism in both elite and community footy.

Before this season, the penalty for individual fans found responsible for racial vilification was a three-year suspension.

AFL Executive General Manager Inclusion and Social Policy Tanya Hosch said changing the penalty for racism to a lifetime ban was appropriate, and that the league was determined to address racism both on and off the field.

The AFL said the zero-tolerance bans for fans have been in place since round 1, with Olympic gold medallist and former federal senator Nova Peris also starting a petition to have offenders banned for life, which attracted 25,000 signatures.

“It’s great to see long overdue action finally being taken with a life ban stance against racists who thought it was ok to hurl racist abuse toward AFL players and get away with it,” Peris said.

“A big thank you to the 25k people who signed on to my petition to call on the AFL for the life ban. Power to the people, without that pressure, there would have been no change within the AFL.

“Our Aboriginal brothers and sisters can finally be rest assured that action will be taken when this inevitably happens again.

“Racism has no place in society. It certainly has no place when it’s aimed at our sporting heroes who just want to showcase their brilliance in their workplace. A place where they can shine and inspire.”

Nova Peris has been a driving force in pushing for zero-tolerance on racist fans. Picture: Tim Carrafa

It also follows AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan’s warning last month that “enough is enough” following a string of high-profile incidents at games and on social media.

“We have been clear, there is absolutely no place for this behaviour in our sport and in society in general and we want people to know that if they behave in this way, they are not welcome at the footy again,” Ms Hosch said.

“The work will not stop in this space and having a full-time resource committed to investigating incidents is going to assist greatly in our response at all levels of the game.”

Petition update · Victory: AFL bans supporters for life for racially abusing players

Outstanding ⁦@NovaPeris⁩ and Nicky Winmar 👏 https://t.co/jtm22UiSJc

— Craig Foster (@Craig_Foster) May 5, 2023

Victory! @NovaPeris "A big thank you to the 25k people who signed on to my petition to call on the @AFL for the life ban. Power to the people, without that pressure, there would have been no change within the AFL". pic.twitter.com/zqGKGFgFjV

— Change.org Australia (@ChangeAus) May 5, 2023

The nine fans banned for life are all men, and range in age from 18 to 72.

Every banned fan has been dobbed in by fellow stadium patrons, either to security guards or police.

Their offences happened at five different venues — four at the MCG, one at Marvel Stadium, two at the SCG (in the same incident), one at the Adelaide Oval and one at UTAS Stadium in Launceston.

The AFL would not detail precisely about how it decided which fans to ban.

It is not known whether any of the bans related back to the incident which saw Western Bulldogs forward Jamarra Ugle-Hagan lift his jumper and point to his skin at Marvel Stadium in round 3, repeating Nicky Winmar’s powerful “I’m Black and I’m Proud” stance from three decades ago.

Those issued with lifetime bans can formally apply for an official review of their status after a minimum period of five years.

Only those who have shown genuine remorse and have proven a change in behaviour through education will be considered.

Jamarra Ugle-Hagan was among the players to be targeted by racist abuse. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

“We believe people can reflect and take the opportunity to change their racist views,” Ms Hosch said.

“Our main aim is to prevent these acts from ever happening.

“We believe education and the opportunity to influence their understanding is a key component to that, so if people are willing to be educated, we would be happy to reconsider their return to the footy.”

The AFL is looking at a number of ways to track down those who offend on social media, but that task is considerably more challenging.

“It can be very difficult to find these people, but on numerous occasions our integrity officers have identified perpetrators and passed information onto police,” Ms Hosch said.

“There is more work to be done, especially in the online space, and we will continue to work with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner to put in place preventive strategies for online abuse, remove abusive posts and act against perpetrators.

Charlie Cameron is among the players to be subjected to racist abuse over social media. Picture: Chris Hyde/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

“We know we still have more we can do to combat racism in the game, but will continue to lobby the (social media) platforms for increased protections and penalties while building on these current actions to help promote change in our industry and society in general.”

The league is endeavouring to enact change at grassroots and community level as well, implementing a raft of initiatives aimed at stopping racial vilification.

More than 18,000 coaches nationally have completed an online course this season – featuring Hawthorn’s Chad Wingard, Carlton’s Darcy Vescio and former Tiger Bachar Houli – highlighting the pain caused by discrimination and vilification.

The AFL has also improved mechanisms for dealing with vilification complaints at community level, which has already seen a number of conciliations this season with some of the outcomes including suspensions, apologies and education courses.

“We’ve already had great feedback from community coaches about the new education module, with many commenting that it has significantly improved their understanding of vilification and its harmful impacts,” Ms Hosch said.