Players unite in support of Eddie Betts

AFL players will continue to challenge fans who exhibit racist tendencies after another appalling attack was directed towards Carlton veteran Eddie Betts.

Eddie Betts called out an Essendon fans after a racist online attack

AFL players will continue to challenge fans who exhibit racist tendencies after another appalling attack was directed towards Carlton veteran Eddie Betts.

A day after the champion forward highlighted a social media post which depicted him as a chimpanzee, Carlton’s co-captain Sam Docherty said ignoring racist attacks did not work.

“I can’t understand what that does to Eddie, and I never will. And I don’t think any of us will, that don’t go through that. So, from a footy club perspective, we’ve just got to wrap our arms around him,” Docherty said.

“Being silent hasn’t worked for a number of years, so as an industry and as a footy club, we’ve got to stand behind our indigenous players and make a stand.”

Essendon are investigating whether the Bombers fan who abused Betts is a member, stating they would issue an immediate ban if that proved to be the case.

Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell declared racism has “absolutely no place” in football”.

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In a statement on Monday, the Bombers said the club stood in unity with Betts, a proud Wirangu Kokatha man who has been the target of abuse several times during a 317-game career with Carlton and Adelaide that began in 2005.

“Eddie Betts is a wonderful role model and a champion of our game, and has made an incredible contribution to the game of AFL, both on and off the field,” the club said.

“On behalf of the Essendon Football Club, we apologise to not only Eddie Betts, but the entire indigenous community across our game, for this abhorrent racial vilification.

“The Essendon Football Club strongly condemns any form of racism. Racism has absolutely no place in our society. This must stop now. It starts with all of us.”

The AFL supported an initiative that saw players and umpires participating in last weekend’s resumption round take a knee in support of the code’s indigenous footballers and the broader Black Lives Matters movement.

Fremantle and St Kilda were among clubs to either contact directly or offered refunds to members who took offence at the move.

In those instances, other fans offered to compensate the clubs by purchasing the equivalent number of memberships in support of the gesture.

Dockers chief executive Simon Garlick said while Fremantle were not a political organisation, it was a straight­forward decision to make given the club’s history.

“In reality, one of the most important aspects of what our club was built on is our indigenous players’ heritage and what they’ve contributed to Freo as people,” he said on Perth radio.

“While we understand we’re not a political organisation and we understand people’s rights to an opinion, when confronted with something like this, it’s not aligned with our values.”

Docherty said it was disgraceful incidents such as the abuse of his friend Betts were still happening.

“He’s one of our teammates, one of our most loved figures at our footy club and to see him vilified like that, it does hurt us,” he said. “Anyone that’s asking a question about why we’re taking a knee pre-game or why we’re trying to make a difference, why we’re trying to actually do something about it, this is the exact reason why.”

AFL Players Association chief executive Paul Marsh said footballers would continue to challenge the behaviour of fans if players are abused, as several did in relation to the post about Betts.

Indigenous players made a decision to be more direct in challenging abuse after watching the Adam Goodes documentary The Final Quarter last year. Their position was adopted by the wider AFL playing group, who have since been proactive in tackling racist posts directed at footballers.