What will it take for the Men’s AFL to admit it has a culture problem?

I’m a lifelong AFL fan, supporting the mediocre team that my under 7’s team was named after. One sad reality as a fan is that it is clear there is a major cultural issue.

Starting from the very top with the people in charge of the league, trickling down to the team management, the players, footy media and the fans. The boys club mentality of racism, homophobia and sexism thrives.

Yesterday, news broke that Sydney Swans players were questioned by police regarding an alleged sexual assault. I won’t be commenting on the allegation but I hope the woman who was brave enough to make the allegation is okay.

I want to talk about how truly fucked the official responses and media coverage has been, and how it is our fortnightly sign of a wider problem.

The AFL stayed silent for 36 hours, before dropping a generic statement of support, after news bulletins had already aired. A statement which snuck in that they don’t think any action should be taken.

The Swans CEO put out an even more dogshit statement. No mention of the victim. No use of the term ‘alleged sexual assault’. No standing down of the players involved until the investigation is over. Just an expression of disappointment ‘that the players have found themselves in this situation’. 

I’m sure it’s really comforting for the AFLW players and female fans as they go into a double header this weekend to know the players who are under investigation haven’t been told they can’t play and that management is just a bit disappointed about an ‘incident’ and ‘situation’. The same vague, sanitised language I used back in my childcare days to not make a kid feel embarrassed if they threw a tantrum or wet their pants is now being used to refer to an alleged sexual assault.

Silence and downplaying have become the AFL’s go to playbook, the best way to uphold a toxic ‘footy above anything else’ mentality.

The media, while lacking in details on the allegations themselves, didn’t use this time to demand actual action from the team or literally any acknowledgement from league officials. Instead, the coverage has focused on one thing, one harm caused by this alleged sexual assault. No, not to the victim… but to the footy finals. 

Articles and TV airtime have been dedicated to showing empathy and concern for the Swan’s footy finals chances. 

Former player Kane Cornes said what really ‘made him angry’ was that it could cost them the premiership. Former player Gary Lyon was concerned that this is an ‘unmitigated disaster for the Sydney Swans, and for the game,’ due to the Swans being an example used for expanding the league. Putting footy above people.

There were acknowledgements that it is an ongoing investigation and they won’t get into that, but that doesn’t excuse ignoring the woman at the centre of these allegations. Nor the women in the audience who want to feel safe and seen by the footy scene. Nor the young boys who see the brushing away.

Before police had even confirmed a single detail about the investigation, some in the media were already focusing on how this could impact the team’s season and the reputations of the players involved.

That is Channel 7’s Tom Morris, who did later update with what the allegation was and report on it further. Some of you may recognise him from that time a few years ago when he was fired from Fox Sports after text messages leaked filled with bigotry, slurs and creepy inappropriate comments about his female colleagues.

I mean is there any clearer example of an overall culture problem if a few years after being fired for how he spoke about women, a fuckhead like this was chosen to cover this fucking story?

There have been some in the media who understand that this coverage requires empathy and that the footy ladder isn’t the victim in this story. Rebeka Powell, Marnie Vinall, Kate McCarthy and Bridie O’Donnell have all either during their coverage or on social media made sure to focus the story on the woman at the centre of the allegations and the impacts on the wider AFL community including female fans and the AFLW. Genuinely great work.

Sadly, though, this isn’t an isolated incident. There are so many recent examples of a culture problem.

The league has been struggling with a rare issue where the players seem to only know one word, a slur used against gay people. The league implemented a slap on the wrist suspension for when players use it against other players, AKA their coworkers. 

Suspensions for this happen frequently now. So much so that in a few short years of this policy, we have already had a repeat offender. For his second offense, his suspension was shorter than his first. With the appeals board saying that due to the stress of the game, ‘it is commonplace that players can employ language from time to time which is racist, sexist or homophobic whilst on the field.’

Anyone who has ever sent a ‘as per my last email’ knows what it is like to feel stressed at work, but it’s hard to think of a workplace besides the AFL where you get to call coworkers slurs for comfort without being immediately fired.

The chair of the appeals board was made to leave after but that doesn’t change the fact that it is clearly a sign of much wider issue not being addressed.

A couple weeks ago it was revealed that Geelong had a player sign a secret document to take legal responsibility if he develops CTE. The AFL straight away put out a statement to say nothing to see here and no need for further questions, including questions about the current league chair’s direct involvement. 

An investigation was later launched due to public backlash.

This constant ‘nothing to see here’ approach has real consequences on how fans act. Whether it’s Isaac Quaynor being booed for reporting a player for using a slur or the men online who immediately started smearing anyone who spoke out against the horrific Swans story.

Or the never ending harassment any woman or person of colour who loves footy gets from online fans. The AFL sees all this, and understands the impact. They just refuse to even acknowledge it.

How can we ever get the change we need in this community if those with the most influence in it refuses to acknowledge any problem exists? If constant slurs, members of the community getting harassed, and serious violent assault allegations won’t get them to do anything, what will?

Right now the AFL has the kind of strong addiction to its boys club mentality that its gambling sponsors give their fans. Hurting people and not caring. But, as a fuckwit would say, that is the situation they found themselves in.