The AFL hoists another feel-good flag with a rainbow-themed round of women’s footy

Oliver Caffrey, AAP, Wednesday:

Carlton star Darcy Vescio wants the AFL to further investigate ways for transgender people to have a greater involvement in the sport … Vescio’s Blues will take on the Western Bulldogs at the Whitten Oval on Saturday, with both teams running out in rainbow-themed guernseys.

Battle of the sexes. Claire Siracusa, The Age, March 28 last year:

I was baffled by the response to Bob Murphy’s column in The Age — an excellent piece about the changing face of masculinity in football. I was baffled, because most of the responses on social media focused not on the broader message of the article, but on one letter of the alphabet. Who would have thought the letter M could cause so much drama? … Language is hugely important, whether it’s subtle or not. Kate Seear … (wrote): “If the AFL women’s league is to be known as AFLW, the men’s league should be recast as AFLM. Until it does so, the AFL is positioning the men’s competition as ‘the default’ or norm, and the women’s as the negative.”

Kate O’Halloran, ABC, February 10:

It seems like a harmless enough suggestion: the rise in popularity of AFL women’s, known as AFLW, means AFL men’s might need a rebrand too. Referring to the men’s competition as AFLM would acknowledge that the success of AFL women’s means the men’s game can no longer simply be considered the premier competition.

No changes planned. Ben Waterworth, Fox Sports, February 12:

Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett has labelled the AFL’s clarification on a possible AFLM name change as “embarrassing and unprofessional” for the league. The AFL clarified it had no plans for a name change after football operations manager Steve Hocking’s comments about potentially calling the men’s competition the AFLM in the future … Kennett said Hocking’s comments were “thoughtless”.

Deaf to gambling scourge. Mark Robinson, Herald Sun, February 12:

It’s OK for the AFL to champion causes, but it does pick and choose on these matters. Two weeks ago, the league signed a mega-million-dollar deal with a corporate bookmaker, and will continue to take revenue from various betting companies. The AFL is “all ears” on discussing AFLM but remains deaf to the gambling scourge affecting society and the flood of adverts in its football coverage. How about the AFL be all ears on important issues.

Place for politics. Kasey Symons, Guardian Australia, Monday:

There is a constant argument over the politics of sport. We argue that politics should be kept out of sport and we should just enjoy the game. Or we argue that sports are, and always have been, political. And in just having that argument, sports become inherently political, whether we like it or not. Sports are political because we have never experienced this ideal that so many cling to when challenged about the political nature of sports. That some utopian ideal of sports exists. But it doesn’t. Sports have excluded and exploited, and been unfair to people based on their gender, sexual orientation, race, religion or ability since they were first played.

David Penberthy, The Advertiser, September 28 last year:

The AFL has renamed its best and fairest medal the “fairest and best” medal … This is the kind of feel-good, progressive stuff the AFL prides itself on. Be it lighting up AFL House in the rainbow colours to back the marriage equality plebiscite, or devoting rounds to multiculturalism or campaigning for a referendum to recognise indigenous heritage, the AFL is not so much shy as garrulous when it comes to crusading on social issues. I support all of those social issues, too. But the AFL has little credibility on telling anyone how to think or behave when it is silent on the issue of problem gambling.