Homophobic incidents have happened too often in the AFL and need to be stamped out of the game, says Collingwood vice-captain Brayden Maynard.
Adelaide ace Izak Rankine is under investigation for an alleged homophobic slur towards a Collingwood opponent and faces being banned for the AFL finals.
It is the fourth such alleged incident at AFL level in the past two seasons, and sixth involving AFL-listed players.
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Last year, Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson was banned for three games, and Gold Coast’s Wil Powell was later suspended for five matches for making homophobic comments to opponents.
In July, the AFL banned West Coast’s Jack Graham for four games after he admitted to a homophobic slur against a GWS opponent.
St Kilda youngster Lance Collard last year received a six-game ban for directing homophobic slurs towards VFL opponents.
This July, Sydney draftee Riak Andrew was given a five-game suspension for a “highly offensive” slur in a VFL match.
“It’s happened too often now,” Maynard said.
“It’s happened, what, three or four times now, so we clearly need to stamp it out and I think we’re doing a great job of that, I think we’re doing as best as we can to stamp all that stuff out of the game.
“So yeah, it’s not good to see. And I think we’re doing everything we can, both from a women’s program and a men’s program to stamp it out.”
AFLW veteran Sabrina Frederick stressed the importance of a no-tolerance approach to ensure the environment was safe for players, fans and supporters.
“Safety in football is huge,” Frederick said.
“Creating an environment where players are safe to come to work, fans and supporters are safe to come and experience the entertainment for all — that’s really important to us here at Collingwood, but (also) across the entire AFL.
“As players, especially, we’re strong on making sure that the football is a really safe environment.
“Safety is really important for us to do our job, but (also) for people to actually experience the football in all its glory.
“So in terms of no tolerance, we’re really big at that with Collingwood, just making sure it’s a really safe environment for people to do their thing and people to experience it in a really positive light.”
AAP
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