MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — An elite player has been banned for four games for a homophobic slur against an opponent in a top-flight Australian rules football game, the sixth AFL-listed player suspended for a similar act in the past 16 months.
Izak Rankine, who plays for the league-leading Adelaide Crows, admitted directing a homophobic slur to a Collingwood opponent in Adelaide’s three-point win last Saturday.
“Izak has said he knew it was not acceptable,” the Australian Football League’s general counsel Stephen Meade said Thursday in a statement announcing the ban. “Adelaide has said they know it is not acceptable. In an AFL environment, this behavior is not acceptable. Homophobia has no place in football.”
Rankine, 25, apologized to the Collingwood player on Sunday as the AFL’s integrity unit launched an investigation.
“The language used was offensive, hurtful and highly inappropriate,” Meade added. “Our players have a very clear understanding of what is acceptable on the football field.”
Rankine said he regretted using the word “and I am very sorry for doing so.”
“It was a mistake and I have apologized to the Collingwood player,” he said in a statement on social media posted by the Crows.
Last month, West Coast’s Jack Graham was banned four games for a homophobic remark to a Greater Western Sydney player. In April last year, Port Adelaide’s Jeremy Finlayson was suspended for three games and, the following month, Gold Coast’s Wil Powell was suspended five matches, both for directing homophobic slurs at opponents.
Sydney defender Riak Andrew last month was suspended for five matches for an anti-gay slur while playing in a reserves game against North Melbourne. And in July last year, St. Kilda’s Lance Collard was banned six games for homophobic comments while playing in the second-tier Victorian Football League for Sandringham against Williamstown.
Australian Rules football is a dynamic contact sport played by teams of 18 on an oval field and involves a lot of kicking. It was established in and around Melbourne in the 1850s and is one of the most popular sports in Australia. The top-tier national league, the AFL, features 18 clubs.
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