St Kilda AFL player Stephen Milne has been fined $3,000 by the AFL for making a homophobic remark to Collingwood assistant coach Paul Licuria.
The exchange took place after a verbal stoush initiated by Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse during the April 10 Saints and Magpies clash at the Docklands stadium.
News reports have not revealed the words Milne used, but AFL general manager of football operations Adrian Anderson said Milne’s conduct was ‘unacceptable’.
‘Milne used language towards Licuria that was homophobic and unacceptable’, Anderson said.
Licuria was also fined $3,000 for using ‘threatening language’ towards Milne, and Malthouse was fined $7,500 for sparking the incident by calling Milne a ‘fucking rapist’.
The AFL introduced a policy sanctioning anti-gay vilification in 2009.
Licuria recently posed nude for his friend, prominent gay Melbourne artist Ross Watson, and was also interviewed by Sydney-based gay magazine DNA, in which it was emphasised that while being very gay-friendly, Licuria was not himself gay.
In a fortuitous but entirely coincidental piece of timing, the week after this incident, several AFL players launched a campaign that said homophobia and racism had no place in football.
Holding placards with anti-homophobia and anti-racism messages and support for gay and indigenous inclusion, 27 players, coaches and former football greats threw their support behind the AFL Players Association’s new inclusion and diversity campaign.
AFL Players Association general manager Dr Pippa Grange said the project was about creating a ‘live’ dialogue.
‘It’s really about an open invitation for football people, whether players or fans, that they should be free to be who they are’, she said.
‘However you cut the statistics, there’s likely to be gay people in football at some point across the different levels of football.
‘That’s the way it’s going to be in any sort of community activity, including sport, so why would we presume it isn’t the case for football?’
Grange said she received warm support from all players and coaches she approached to take part.
‘What we want to do is have a landscape where it’s so normal, it’s so obvious that we don’t tolerate homophobia because it’s unacceptable’, Grange said.
The campaign was rolled out against the backdrop of the International Day Against Homophobia (May 17).
Some of those taking part included Brownlow medalists Adam Goodes and Jimmy Bartel; Fremantle’s Aaron Sandilands; Brisbane Lions’ Luke Power; Geelong’s Joel Selwood; Sydney Swans coach Paul Roos; Geelong coach Mark Thompson; former Melbourne coach Neil Balme; and four-time premiership coach David Parkin.
Steven Carter
